Getting Revenge
by Twisteddarkness225
Summary: Sequel to '10 ways to upset and/or embarrass Hinata Hyuga'. This time it's Naruto's turn to suffer. rated T.
1. Chapter 1

**Getting Revenge**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I also make no money from the writing of this story.

**Prologue)**

Twisteddarkness225: "I'm back with the sequel to **'10 ways to upset and/or embarrass Hinata Hyuga'.**__This time I've enlisted the help of some of Hinata's friends, starting off with none other than her teammates!"

Kiba and Shino enter. Kiba with Akamaru riding on top of his head and Shino with hands in his pockets, looking nonchalant as usual. The two boys came over and stood next to Twisted.

Twisted: "Next we have Hinata's cousin Neji along with his teammates, Lee and Tenten!"

Gai's students' entered, soon joining Kiba and Shino next to Twisted.

Twisted: "And last but certainly not least, we have two lovely kunoichi whom have set aside their own rivalry to work together for me: Ino and Sakura!"

The girls entered and joined the others. Now with everyone here, Twisted stood in front of the group to properly address them.

Twisted: "Now we all know why you're here. Naruto, being the complete and total idiot he is, went off and did some rather mean, not to mention immature, things to poor Hinata Hyuga. Why he did it is something we don't know, but what we do know is that we aren't going to let him get away with it! So I've gathered you all her to help me get revenge on the knucklehead and teach him a lesson or two. Each of you will be assigned something to do to Naruto in exchange for everything he's done to Hinata. After all we all have more than enough reason to do so. Kiba, Shino and Neji, as Hinata's teammates and cousin the three of you care for her very much. TenTen, Ino, and Sakura, the three of you are Hinata's closest friends and were also the one's who she went to after Naruto stole and read her diary. And Lee…..uh why's he here again?"

Lee: "What Naruto did was beyond unyouthful! I am here to assist my teammates in knocking some sense into him!"

Twisted: "Okay, whatever. Welcome aboard. No before we begin are there any questions?"

Neji: "Actually yes, why are _you_ here? Until today, none of us knew you and you just all of the sudden come up to us with this little endeavor of yours. What's in it for you?"

Twisted: "Let's just say that I'm aware of what Naruto did and didn't want to let him get away with it. I came up with this plan as a means of putting that kid in place. The only thing you need to know is that I have the best interests in mind. Now if there are no further questions I think we should begin. Sakura, you'll be going first."

**Chapter 1)**

Sakura Haruno stepped out of the small crowd of genin that Twisted had gathered. The dark man dismissed the others, informing them that he'd find them when their turns came. When they had all left, Twisted began briefing her on her mission.

"Sakura, you'll be taking Naruto out on a date."

Sakura looked at him like he was crazy, "What!? Why would I want to do that!?"

"Because, you're going to make it the worst date ever for him."

Sakura smiled, getting the idea. She listened intently to the instructions Twisted gave her and then set out to find Naruto.

----------

Naruto was sitting at the Ichiraku ramen stand, eating his usual meal of ramen. However, instead of wolfing it down like usual he was just sitting there, stirring the noodles around with his chopsticks. It hadn't been two days since Hinata had ran away from him after the diary thing and he still felt horrible about it.

The owner of the stand, Teuchi, took notice of his best customer's depressed state. "Something wrong with your ramen, Naruto?"

Naruto shook his head, "No, it's fine. I guess I'm just not in the mood for ramen today."

Teuchi gawked at the boy, not believing his ears. His daughter Ayame nearly spilled a bowl of hot ramen on the customer she was handing it to when she heard what Naruto said. After apologizing to the customer, Ayame went over to Naruto and placed her hand on his forehead, moving his headband to the side.

"Are you feeling okay Naruto? You've _never_ turned down ramen before!"

"I'm fine, really. It's just that I did something really stupid and I feel really bad about it."

Ayame removed her hand from Naruto's forehead, "What exactly did you do?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Are you sure? You'd probably feel a lot better if you did."

Naruto shook his head. Ayame looked to her father, hoping he would help coax Naruto into talking. The older man stopped what he was doing and turned to face them.

"Well Naruto if you change your mind we'll be happy to listen. And don't worry about it, whatever it is. You'll find a way to make things right."

Naruto smiled, "Yeah, you're right. Thanks old man!" He began digging into his noodles, slurping them down noisily. In a matter of seconds he downed the whole bowl and held it up beaming, "Seconds please!"

Teuchi and Ayame smiled, relieved to have Naruto back to himself. Ayame took his empty bowl to set aside for washing and Teuchi set down a fresh bowl of ramen for his best customer. Naruto started on that bowl just as someone entered the stand and took a seat next to him. Naruto glanced to the side and found out that the person was Sakura. He slurped down a mouthful of noodles and turned to greet her.

"Hey Sakura-chan!"

Sakura smiled at him, resisting the urge to scold him for his lack of table manners. "Hey Naruto, how are you?"

"I'm okay, how about you?"

"I'm fine…" Sakura started to finger a lock of her hair, preparing herself mentally. "Um, Naruto…you aren't busy today are you?"

Naruto shook his head, not speaking since his mouth was overflowing with ramen. Sakura ignored his lack of manners again and kept going with her objective.

"You aren't? That's good because I was kind of hoping that you and me could spend some time together, maybe go on that date you're always asking me for."

Naruto nearly choked on his ramen, but managed to get it down. His eyes lit up and his face broke into a huge smile.

"Really!? Alright! What do you want to do Sakura-chan?"

Sakura thought for a moment, "Can we go for a walk in the woods?"

"Sure, as soon as I finish my ramen."

Sakura's mood suddenly turned. She grabbed Naruto giving him a glare that would even send Orochimaru running to his mother.

"Naruto, I want to for a walk in the woods NOW!"

Naruto gulped, barely able to stutter out an 'okay' in response. He paid for his ramen and left with Sakura taking the lead. They left the village and started their little trek though the surrounding forest. After a few awkward minutes of silence Naruto started up a conversation, getting over the initial fear he had gotten back at Ichiraku's.

"So Sakura-chan, what mad you change your mind about going on a date with me?"

Sakura turned to look at him, "I just wanted to spend time with you. Ever since I started training with Tsunade-sama, I've been so busy. I missed you so I thought it'd be nice if we went out, just you and me."

She took his hand in hers and gently squeezed. He returned the gesture, absolutely loving it.

"I missed spending time with you too Sakura-chan. And I'm really happy that you finally decided to go on a date with me."

Sakura giggled a bit, "Naruto, do you think I'm pretty?"

Naruto was momentarily caught off guard by the sudden question, but didn't hesitate to answer it, "Yeah! You're really pretty Sakura-chan! Believe it!"

"Tell me that I'm pretty"

"Uh… I just did. Didn't you hear me?"

Sakura suddenly grabbed him and pinned him to a tree, "_TELL ME THAT I'M PRETTY!"_

Naruto was barely able to keep himself from wetting his pants. Now Sakura looked even scarier than she had back at Ichiraku's and he had to use all his will power to speak.

"You're pretty! The prettiest girl ever! Please don't hurt me!"

Sakura smiled and let him down. "You really think so?"

Naruto nodded, wanting to avoid her going nuts on him again. She giggled, "Thank you. Now come on, let's go back to the village. We can go shopping next!"

The blonde boy said nothing and went along, still wary of Sakura's sudden mood swings. They returned to the village and went to a small clothing store Sakura knew about. She spent countless minutes trying on various outfits, having Naruto give his opinion on how each one looked on her. To be safe he told her that they all looked good, not that he was lying. He really did think everything she tried on looked nice. He was currently waiting for her while she was in the dressing room again. He only hoped that she would finally decide on something. No matter how many times he told her that whatever she picked looked nice, she'd just put it back and choose something else.

After what felt like forever she finally came out of the dressing room. Naruto took one look at her and his jaw dropped. He had thought Sakura was beautiful before, but now he _knew_ she was beautiful. The outfit she had tried on was a red Chinese dress with gold embroidery. All she needed to do was put her hair up and she would have been a true vision of beauty.

The pink haired girl quickly took notice of Naruto's blank staring. She did a little twirl, allowing him to see front and back of the dress.

"What do you think Naruto-kun? I really like this one and it fits me perfectly!"

Naruto nodded, unable to find the right words to describe how perfect Sakura looked at that moment. Sakura smiled and went back into the dressing room to change into her regular clothes. She came out a moment later with the dress on a clothes hanger, having decided to get it.

"Okay, now let's find something for you Naruto-kun."

"Nah, that's okay Sakura-chan. I don't need any new clothes."

She pouted, "But you always wear that same thing every day. I understand you wearing it on missions but you should have some clothes to just kick around in when you have time off."

Naruto scratched the back of his head, "Well okay. But I don't really know what kind of clothes to get."

Sakura smiled and took his hand. "Don't worry I'll help you."

She led him to the men's section of the store and almost immediately picked something out for him. It was a wool sweater, and easily one of the ugliest things Naruto had ever seen. Before he could get a word in edgewise she pushed him into the men's dressing rooms and gave him the sweater to try on. He did so, very reluctantly, and came out scratching his chest and backside.

Sakura clapped her hands together, "It looks great on you!"

"I don't know it's kinda itchy."

"Oh don't worry about that. It'll be fine after you wash it. Now let's go and pay at the register."

They paid for their clothes, Naruto paying for Sakura's and her paying for his. The sweater she got him was noticeably cheaper than her dress but he didn't mind. He just wanted to get the shopping over with; it was too boring for him. They left the store and not long after entered another one. Naruto groaned on the inside, not wanting to have to keep shopping. He was pleasantly surprised to find that the store was actually the flower shop Ino's family owned. Apparently Sakura wanted to show off her new dress, whether it was to make Ino jealous or not Naruto didn't know or care. He had to use the bathroom and had been holding it in the entire time they had been in the clothing store, which had no public restrooms. Since Sakura was clearly occupied he snuck out to use the restroom in the store next to the flower shop since it also had no bathrooms.

After relieving himself, he left the bathroom crashing into Sakura who had come to look for him after noticing he left. From the look on her face, she wasn't happy and Naruto had a gut feeling she was gonna go nuts again.

She grabbed him by the collar and lifted him in the air, "Naruto where the heck where you!?"

"S-Sakura-chan I was just using the bathroom!"

She looked behind him at the door; it was a unisex bathroom meaning either gender could use it. She returned her gaze to Naruto, glaring at him.

"Were you in there with another girl!? Who is she!?"

"What? No! Why would I do that?"

Sakura looked him in the eyes and after a moment finally set him down. "Fine, but don't think for a second that you're off the hook. I've got my eye on you."

Naruto sighed in relief now that Sakura calmed down again. He noticed that her little stunt had gathered the attention of some other people in the store.

"Uhh, I think it would best to go now."

Sakura suddenly look hurt, "What? I thought you cared about me. Why do you want to leave me?"

"I meant we should get going I didn't mean I wanted to leave you Sakura-chan!"

She looked relieved and hugged him. "That's good. Because if you ever left me I'd cut myself…" She squeezed him hard, making it difficult for him to breathe. "and then I'd cut you Naruto-_kun_."

Naruto managed to push away from her, becoming scared, "Sakura you're acting crazy!"

She smiled at him, her eye twitching slightly. "What was that?"

Naruto panicked, sensing that Sakura was going to actually try and hurt him this time. He looked around quickly hoping to find a distraction and set his eyes on a clock on the wall.

"Wow it's that late already? We really ought to go before it starts getting dark. Come on Sakura-chan I'll walk you home."

Sakura accepted the offer, her craziness seeming to vanish altogether. Naruto walked her home and said good night to her. She thanked him for a good time and then went inside, shutting the door behind her. Naruto had always envisioned Sakura giving him a kiss at this part but didn't think much of it. Her actions throughout the day had somewhat changed his view of her. He started to wonder if maybe she was acting that way out of stress from all her training lately or if that was actually the way she acted on a date. He let the thought go, starting to get a headache from dwelling on it. At least he could look forward to a good night's rest.

He arrived at his apartment and took out his key. He was surprised to find that his door was unlocked, meaning either he forgot to lock it that morning…or someone had picked his lock and went inside. Naruto slowly opened the door enough to peek inside, seeing if there was an intruder. No one was insight but the light in his bedroom was on and he could see a shadow moving from under the door frame. He cautiously opened the front door wide enough to slip inside and snuck to his bedroom door. Preparing himself for anything he flung open the door and stood ready to fight if necessary.

"All right who the heck are you and why are you in my…." He trailed off midsentence staring dumbly at the intruder. "Sakura-chan!? What are you doing here?!"

Sakura smiled at him, "I'm tidying up your messy room silly. Since we're a couple now I figure I'd move in over here and I wanted it to look nice."

She then went back to what she had been doing when he had burst in, which was making his bed. Naruto stared at her dumbly, "You're kidding right?"

She shook her head "No Naruto-kun I'm serious. Until we can get a place of our own you should try to keep your apartment clean and maybe redecorate it a little. Your living room would look really nice with some pink wallpaper and new furniture."

"You really are serious aren't you?"

"Yup! Isn't this great? We'll be living together in our own little love nest. Soon we'll get married and have kids. We'll only have girls and you'll stay at home to take care of them while I work and earn money to support us."

She continued to go on and on about their future together, oblivious to the fact that Naruto looked terrified by what she was saying. Now under the impression that Sakura would be living with him he did the only thing he could. He ran out of there like a bat out of hell and didn't look back. Sakura saw him bolting and followed him to the front door shouting after him.

"Run all you want Naruto! You have to come back sometime and I'll be waiting for you! You can't avoid me forever Naruto Uzumaki! You got that!?"

Her words only seemed to provoke him into running away faster. Once out of sight Sakura went back inside and sat on the couch taking a breath. This had been a lot harder than she had originally thought. Acting like a psycho girlfriend wasn't as easy as Twisted had made it sound when he told her what to do that morning but at least she was able to pull it off. She smirked to herself as she wondered what the strange man had in store for Naruto next.

TBC.

Okay so that's it for the first chapter. I honestly hope that it was worth the wait and I apologize again for taking so long. Now for the next chapter I'm going to either do Neji, Kiba or Tenten. I haven't decided yet, but feel free to let me know if you have a preference for any of them when you review. I'll get to work on the next chapter once I've made my choice.


	2. Chapter 2

I'm back with next chapter. Took some time to think of exactly what I wanted to do and came up with this.

Chapter 2)

Neji Hyuga stood patiently in Tsunade's office. He was being sent on a mission and was currently waiting for the other person who was being assigned to go along with him. It was originally a solo mission, but Neji had made a point of wanting this person in particular to come along with him. He normally wouldn't have been so insistent, but he had reasons.

It was his turn to torture, er…punish Naruto. Twisted had made the mission specs quick and simple. Go on a mission with Naruto, and make it a living hell. It wasn't quiet what Neji had expected and seemed pointless. _Any_ mission with Naruto was a living hell already; there would be hardly anything he could do to make it worse. Nevertheless he accepted, wanting to get this ridiculous waste of time over with. The only reason he was doing this at all was because of Hinata. When he saw her come home crying because of Naruto he felt a killing intent well up inside him. If Hinata hadn't sought comfort from him he would have gone out that second to find Naruto.

It didn't take long for Naruto to arrive; his hair messier than usual and his clothes dirty. Thanks to Sakura _'moving in'_ with him he had slept outside and hadn't dared to go home for clean clothes or even food. Despite that he had a happy look on his face, eager to find out what kind of mission he was being sent on. His face fell when he noticed Neji was there.

Naruto stepped closer to Tsunade's desk, glancing warily at the Hyuga boy who was glaring daggers at him. Tsunade waited for him to get close enough so that he was standing next to Neji before beginning.

"Naruto Uzumaki, Neji Hyuga, the two of you are to go on a reconnaissance mission to Tanzaku town. We have reason to believe that there are sound ninja present there and need to confirm that they are actually there before taking action of any kind."

Naruto's attention was immediately caught at the words 'sound ninja.' "Wait, are you saying that Sasuke might be there Grandma?"

Tsunade glared at him, "I never said that Naruto, and for the record the only reason that you're going on this mission is because Neji requested it. Whatever the reason may be."

Naruto turned to look at Neji, becoming fearful that maybe the boy had something in store for him on the mission. The Hyuga boy closed his eyes, looking nonchalant.

"Naruto has been to Tanzaku town before and should know the area better. Also he knows the multi shadow clone jutsu which will be very helpful on the mission. His clones can go around and gather information while I use my Byakugan to search the area. The real Naruto will remain with me just in case we should need to defend ourselves. If everything goes well we'll be done and on our way back to the village by tomorrow evening."

Tsunade nodded, impressed with how well Neji had thought things through when he was only told of his mission less than twenty minutes ago. She gave the two boys clearance to leave, telling Neji he would be in charge throughout the course of the mission and that Naruto was to do as he says. Taking only a few minutes to make sure they had everything they needed for the mission, they left the village.

The trip to Tanzaku town was awkward and quiet for Naruto. If anyone else had been assigned to go along with them then maybe it wouldn't have been so bad. Well, anyone except Hinata. Naruto wanted nothing more than to apologize and set things right with the girl, but was afraid to go and see her. The last thing she had said to him still echoed in his mind whenever he thought of her.

_'You're a jerk Naruto Uzumaki! I __**HATE **__you!!'_

Naruto felt a dull ache in his chest as he remembered the look on Hinata's face that day. He wondered if she still felt that way. Maybe Neji knew; he did live with her after all. Naruto only hoped asking him wouldn't cause any trouble. After a moment's thought he decided to go through with it.

"Hey Neji, I was wondering if I could ask you something."

Neji didn't answer for a few moments, when he did his tone carried a mild bit of venom in it. "What do you want, Naruto?"

"I…I wanted to know if…does Hinata hate me?"

Neji slowed to a stop and turned to face the other boy. "Do you really want to know?" Naruto nodded; Neji sighed, "To be honest Naruto I don't believe she hates you, but she was very hurt by what you did. I've known her all her life and I can't remember her ever crying like that even once."

Naruto looked down at his feet, ashamed of himself. "I never meant to make her cry."

"Well you did, and even after the way you treated her she still cares for you! All you need to do is to prove to her that she can trust you again and I know she'll forgive you."

He resumed walking, Naruto close behind. He thought over what Neji had told him and smiled. "Thanks Neji."

"What are you thanking me for?"

"For what you told me, it made me feel better knowing Hinata doesn't really hate me. When we get back from the mission I'm gonna set things right and apologize to her for everything."

"You may want to put a hold on that. Hinata-sama will be going on a trip with her father for a week and they leave in the morning."

Naruto's smile faded for a moment, but then came back full force. "So I'll just wait until then to tell her. It'll give me some time to think up something special to do for her so I can prove that I really am sorry."

Neji allowed himself a small smile, "I doubt that's necessary. Knowing Hinata-sama she'll accept your apology so long as you mean it. But know this Naruto…" he turned to look over his shoulder at him, "if you _ever_ make her cry like that again, I won't hesitate to hurt you."

Naruto met his gaze, "Neji if I ever hurt her like that again I'll_ let_ you hurt me."

Neji turned to look forward again, satisfied with Naruto's response. He could tell that Naruto was dead serious about it and felt a little respect towards the other boy. The Hyuga prodigy decided to just forget about the task Twisted had asked of him. He honestly didn't see the point in bothering with it now. Besides, he knew that Hinata wouldn't want him to go though with this. She was never the type to want revenge and if she knew about what everyone was doing she'd try to get them to stop. In the end, it didn't really matter that Neji chose not to go through with Twisted's request. The mission ended up going wrong all by itself.

As Neji had originally believed, Naruto screwed things up as usual. He had insisted on taking a short cut that he had taken with Jiraiya the first time he had gone to Tanzaku town. Apparently he didn't remember it as well as he thought because he got them both very lost in a short amount of time. Neji then took charge and managed to find their way back to the main road. They arrived in Tanzaku town much later than they should have, thanks to Naruto's little short cut. Together they were able to do a little searching before the sun went down. They checked into a hotel, having found no information or evidence of sound ninja being present at all.

In their room Neji was sitting on his bed, using the Byakugan to search the entire hotel itself while Naruto went out to get food. Neji had insisted there was no need to bother since they had both packed food for the trip, but Naruto had made a convincing argument. Neji continued to search the hotel, taking his time and checking each room one at a time.

In a room just down the hall Neji saw two men sitting and going over the contents of a scroll. Neji noticed that the men seemed to be talking to each other very heatedly, as though they were discussing something of great importance. Neji smiled to himself, believing he had just found what he was looking for.

At that moment Naruto came back, holding a bento box in each hand. He saw the look on Neji's face, also noticing that the boy was using his Byakugan. Naruto smirked, "Hey Neji, what are you so happy about? Is there a girl undressing somewhere in the hotel?"

Neji glared at him, deactivating the Byakugan "I am doing no such thing. There are far better uses for the Byakugan than peeping Naruto."

"Yeah well tell that to Hinata, she doesn't seem to think so."

Neji narrowed his eyes, "What are you implying?"

"Just that Hinata used the Byakugan to look through people's clothes."

Neji got up, "I'd stop right there if I were you. You're beginning to irritate me with your false accusations."

"What? It's true! She even told me that she did it! Well, she told me she only did it once. It was back when I had started to…you know be mean to her."

A silence passed between the two for the next few minutes. Naruto sat on his bed, remembering all the things he did to Hinata. He still couldn't believe he had thought the whole thing was fun at first. Neji saw that Naruto clearly had something on his mind and also saw an opportunity to get an answer to something that had been on his.

"Why did you do it? Why Hinata?"

Naruto sighed, "It thought at first it would be fun, y'know? But then things started to go down hill and I felt bad about what I was doing."

"Then why didn't you just stop?"

"I…I was working for this guy, he said he would pay me to do this list of things to Hinata. I told him I wanted to stop doing it, but then he started blackmailing me…with pictures of Hinata, embarrassing ones. So I kept doing what he wanted to keep him so he wouldn't show those pictures to the whole village."

Neji raised an eyebrow, "Wait, didn't _you_ spread photos of Hinata all over the village?"

"Yeah, but at least in those ones she had clothes on."

"What!?" Neji grabbed Naruto by the shoulders, "Who is he!? What does he look like!?"

"I don't know. He told me his name when we met, but turns out it was just a fake. I don't know what he looks like either. He always wore this hood mask thing that hid his face."

Neji let go of Naruto, taking a seat on his own bed. He wondered if maybe, just maybe there was some connection between what Naruto had done to Hinata and what he had been asked to do to Naruto. It definitely seemed like there was. When they got back to the village he would see if his theory was correct or not. The sound of Naruto's stomach growling broke the silence in the room. Neji snapped out of his thoughts and reached for his bento.

"It's getting late; we should eat and get some rest. We'll need it come morning."

Naruto opened his bento and began to eat, "Yeah, if we want to find anything we'll need to get up early to start searching again."

"Actually we'll be spying. Before you came back I think I may have found the sound ninja we were looking for."

"They're in the same hotel as us!?"

Neji nodded, "Maybe. We'll need more evidence that they are in fact sound ninja. But that's going to have to wait until morning."

They finished eating and went to bed. Morning came and the two got up just as the sun was rising. First thing Neji did was activate the Byakugan to check on the 'sound ninja'. The two men weren't awake yet, still in their beds and snoring. Wanting to conserve his chakra Neji deactivated the Byakugan and quickly went over the plan with Naruto. He would use the Byakugan to check on the room every five to ten minutes until the men woke up. When they did he would have Naruto create a single clone, give him a radio headset to communicate with them and station him outside the room while Neji kept watch with the Byakugan. The real Naruto would wait in their room with Neji so they could just go and leave the second they got the information they needed. That was of course if these men were in fact sound ninja. If not then Neji and Naruto would have to go and continue searching.

Nearly an hour passed before the men stirred. Neji saw them just as they were starting to pack up their things. Apparently they were going to be leaving today. They talked to each other while they got ready. Sensing the opportunity Neji signaled for Naruto to get moving. The blonde boy created a single clone which then used the sexy Jutsu, only instead of appearing naked, the girl Naruto (Naruko) was dressed in a pink kimono and had his/her hair in a single ponytail. Neji looked at Naruto's clone with a raised eyebrow.

"What's the purpose of this?"

Naruko smiled, "Easy, if those guys or anyone else catch me spying then we don't have to worry about any trouble."

"I see, they'll think that a young girl was eavesdropping on them and that'll keep any attention away from us. Not bad Naruto."

Neji activated the Byakugan and kept watch while Naruto equipped Naruko with Neji's headset. Naruto put on his own headset and they put their plan into action. Naruto checked to see if the coast was clear before letting Naruko sneak out. S/he went down the hall and took position just outside door to the room. Opening the door to peek in was obviously out of the question, not to mention needless since Neji was already watching everything from their room. So instead Naruko ever so carefully slid the door open a crack; just enough to hear them. Thankfully the movement was so subtle that neither of the men noticed. They were currently engrossed in a serious conversation.

The first man, a tall skinny guy with a head of messy brown hair was pacing the floor, clearly worried over something. "You don't think Orochimaru knows anything do you?"

The second man, a stout bald man, rolled his eyes. "If he did then we wouldn't be here now would we?"

"Yeah but our mission still worries me. What if we fail or the enemy finds us here?"

The second man rolled his eyes again and sighed. "Quit it, will ya? Nothing's going to go wrong. Besides we're heading back now so the missions pretty much over. Just relax."

The skinny man stopped and sat down "You're right, sorry. It's just I've been rattled since we saw what that Uchiha kid Orochimaru's training. Did you see how strong he is? He could take the both of us without even breaking a sweat!"

Naruko's eyes widened "They know where Sasuke is!!"

Back in Naruto and Neji's room, Naruto's eyes widened as well. Before Neji knew what was happening, Naruto bolted out the door. Neji cursed under his breath and ran after Naruto, hoping to stop him. He was too late, Naruto had already gotten there. He kicked open the door, created twenty shadow clones and surrounded the two men. Neji pinched the bridge of his nose, knowing that there was no going back now.

The original Naruto raised his hand and pointed at the skinny man, glaring daggers at him. "Alright buddy I want answers and I want them now! Where's Sasuke!?"

"Yeah!" one of Naruto's clones cried out "And don't even think of trying to escape! We got you sound ninja surrounded!"

The rest of Naruto's clones chorused in agreement, confident that they had the situation under control. After the initial shock of having Naruto burst in and suddenly surround them wore off, the stout sound ninja stood up.

"Sound ninja? Kid you got it all wrong, we're sand ninja. We've been keeping an eye on Orochimaru ever since he murdered the Kazekage. Here, look."

He picked up his headband, showing that he was a sand ninja. His partner picked up his headband as well, showing he was too. Naruto blinked, unsure of whether they were telling the truth or trying to trick him. Neji entered the room and walked up to the stout ninja.

"If what you're saying is true then you wouldn't mind sharing some of your findings with us. Just to prove you were spying on the sound."

"Why would we do that kid?"

Neji crossed his arms. "We're ninja from the Village hidden in the leaves. The fifth Hokage sent us to investigate a rumor that there were sound ninja here. If you aren't sound ninja then you had better prove it, otherwise we'll have to capture you."

Both the sand ninja laughed. The skinny one stood and looked at Neji mockingly. "Kid we've been hiding right under Orochimaru's nose, what makes you think you brats can catch either of us?"

Neji smirked, "For one thing the both of us have encountered Orochimaru before. His new apprentice is from our village and when he left to join Orochimaru we were sent after him. And my friend here happened to end up fighting Sasuke and almost defeated him."

Both men looked at Naruto, or rather Naruto's clones. They had seen what Sasuke was capable of and if what they had just heard was true, then they might want to reconsider who they were dealing with. Besides, there was no need to waste time getting into a fight when all they had to do was prove they were telling the truth.

The stout ninja reached for his bag and took out a scroll. It was the same one Neji had seen them going over the previous night. The stout ninja held it out to Neji.

"Here, we've recorded all the information we've gathered on this scroll. We'll let you look at it, but we need to keep it for when we return to our village. You can tell the Hokage if she wants she can request access to it. I'm sure our new Kazekage will be more than willing to let her."

Neji took the scroll and opened it. He scanned the contents quickly before closing it and handing it back.

"They're telling the truth Naruto. Let's go back to the village and report on what happened."

Naruto canceled his jutsu, his clones vanishing in a puff of smoke. The two went to leave, Neji stopping at the door and turning to face the two sand ninja.

"We apologize for our intrusion. We were only meant to find evidence that sound ninja were here in Tanzaku town. But when Naruto heard you mention Sasuke, he acted on his own. Don't misunderstand his intentions. He was only doing what he felt was right."

They left, the two sand ninja left not long after. Naruto and Neji traveled back as quickly as they could, arriving just as evening rolled in. They made their way to see Tsunade, wanting to report their mission to Tsunade. On the way Naruto noticed something was odd. Everyone they passed by seemed to be smiling at them. Some were even on the verge of laughing. A pair of girls they walked by took one look at Naruto and burst into a fit of giggles. Neji noticed the odd behavior of the villagers as well and had a good idea of what was going on.

They reached Tsunade's office and entered. She was at her desk talking with Shizune. When they saw Naruto, Shizune covered her mouth and giggled. Tsunade suppressed her own laugh and cleared her throat.

"Neji, Naruto, what did you find on your mission?"

Neji gave a detailed report of the mission from when they arrived in Tanzaku town to when they left. When he finished Tsunade sighed and rubbed her temples.

"Well I think it's safe to say that the mission was a waste of time." She turned her gaze to Naruto. "I honestly should have known that you'd screw up Naruto. A mission like that just isn't the kind to send you on. Now I need to contact the Village hidden in the Sand and make amends with them for your stunt."

Naruto stepped forward, ready to explain himself. But he was surprisingly cut off by Neji who stood up for him.

"But Tsunade-sama, Naruto was actually helpful on the mission. True he did deviate from our original purpose but in doing so he helped us gain valuable information. Now we know that the sand has been spying on Orochimaru and has gathered information that will no doubt be beneficial to us. They even said that we could have access to it, all we need is to ask."

Tsunade took Neji's words into consideration, "Well I suppose the mission wasn't a failure after all. But Naruto the next time I send you on a mission like that, I expect you to restrain yourself from repeating what you did today. I doubt things will turn out as well a second time."

Naruto sighed, "Yeah, whatever you say grandma. Can we go now? I just want to go to bed."

Shizune suddenly started giggling again, Tsunade joining in unable to resist. Naruto looked at them, utterly confused.

"Huh? What's so funny?"

Shizune pulled out a picture and showed it to him. Naruto gawked at the picture and then looked up at Shizune. "Where the heck did you get that!?"

Tsunade held up the same photo Shizune had, "These are all over the village. Nearly everyone has a copy."

Naruto freaked out, realizing why everyone had been acting weird when they had looked at him. Neji however quickly figured out that his earlier hunch was correct. It looked like Twisted had someone at work while they were gone. But there was something else, this was one of the things that Naruto had done to Hinata. Neji's suspicion of the dark man grew, wondering if maybe he was behind what Naruto had done to Hinata.

Something caught his attention just outside the window. Neji turned to leave, but went up on the roof instead of leaving via the front door. He focused chakra into the soles of his feet and walked down the side of the building. He made his way to the window that looked into Tsunade's office and found Tenten there, peeking inside just like he had seen her doing. She was unaware of the boy's presence, far too enveloped in spying inside the building. Neji walked down next to her.

"Tenten."

The girl jumped and nearly fell, but regained her footing and turned to look at him.

"Neji! Don't do that!"

"Tenten what are you doing?"

She smiled, "Just admiring my handiwork. Twisted paid me a visit this morning and had me spread copies of that photo of Naruto all over the village. Just like what he did to Hinata!"

"I know. But don't you think it's odd that he'd do something so similar to what Naruto did?"

"Not really, I thought he was just giving Naruto a taste of his own medicine. Why?"

"I think that Twisted may have had a hand in what Naruto did to Hinata. In fact I think he's the reason behind what Naruto did to her."

Tenten's eyes widened. Neji explained to her what he had been told by Naruto on their mission. Tenten agreed to help him look further into it and together they waited until Naruto had finally left. They went into Tsunade's office, approaching her at her desk.

"Tsunade-sama, we think there's something you should know. Something that you may find very interesting."

TBC.

Alright that's it for now. This chapter even surprised me. I couldn't believe how quickly it all came to me while I was writing and what it's going to do for the plot. I hope you all like where it's going and I'll get to work on finishing the next chapter right away.


	3. Chapter 3

Back with the next part. It's going to focus on what Tenten was up to while Neji and Naruto were on their mission. It'll also have a bit of plot development. Let me know what you think.

Chapter 3)

Tenten and Neji left Tsunade's office, having just finished talking with her. The old woman had been more than interested in what the two had to tell her and made a point of looking into it. However she had asked them to keep quiet about the matter. If the man known as Twisted really was the one behind Naruto's recent actions towards Hinata, then it would be best to keep him from knowing they were on to him.

So Neji and Tenten left and went home. Since Tenten's house was on the way, Neji walked with her. After leaving Tsunade's office the weapon user seemed a little depressed and Neji felt it would help if they talked a little.

"Are you feeling alright Tenten?"

Tenten nodded, "I'm okay. I just kinda feel bad now for doing what Twisted wanted. Especially since I enjoyed doing it to get back for when Naruto did it to Hinata."

"I see. So you still have feelings for her then?"

"Yeah, but it's become more like the way I feel about you. Like were just really good friends. I've moved on and accepted that Hinata and I just aren't meant to be."

Neji smirked, "Knowing you, you've probably already found someone else to obsess over."

Tenten smiled sheepishly "Yeah, I have. I'm kinda developing a thing for Ino. I think I might be attracted to blondes. It's a shame that she's homophobic."

"Well if you could get Gai-sensei and Lee to warm up to you then I'm sure you can get anyone to."

Tenten giggled, "I guess your right. I still remember all those times that they tried to help me with my 'problem'."

"Like the time Sensei tried to set you up with Lee?"

"Or the time when he hired a priest to exorcise the 'unyouthful spirit' that was possessing me."

Neji smirked again, "I remember that. You really scared them both when you snapped and started to yell at them."

"I know. The look on Gai-sensei's face was priceless." The smile on her face faded. "But still, I feel bad for helping Twisted after what you told me."

"It isn't your fault Tenten. You didn't know at the time. But to be honest I am rather impressed with how well you did. Did you actually manage to get a copy to every person in the village?"

She nodded, "It was a lot of work but I managed to do it. Twisted had a ton of copies of that photo and told me exactly where he wanted me to deliver them to."

-_**Flashback- **_

It was early in the morning, Tenten laid fast asleep in her bed. The sunlight drifted in through her bedroom window and slowly moved across the room as the sun rose higher and higher into the morning sky. Eventually it reached her bed and Tenten shifted under her blanket as the light roused her from her sleep. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, letting out a small yawn. Getting out of bed she groggily made her way to the bathroom. A few minutes later she returned, still half asleep. She went over to her dresser, walking by Twisted who was leaning against the wall, reading a copy of Icha Icha Paradise.

The dark man looked up from his reading. "Good morning Tenten."

"Morning." She stopped short, snapping fully awake. She turned back to face the dark man. "What the…!? How long have you been in my room!?"

"When I came in you had just left, so I waited here for you to come back. It's your turn to get Naruto back for what he did to Hinata."

Tenten's interest was immediately caught; she sat down on her bed, ready to hear what her instructions were. Twisted took out a pair of scrolls and a small backpack, handing them to her.

"Inside the bag you will find numerous copies of a photo of Naruto. As you know one of the stunts he pulled was distributing several copies of an embarrassing photo of Hinata. I'm sure you can guess where I'm going with this."

"You want me to do the same thing. So Naruto knows how it feels to be treated the way he treated Hinata."

Twisted nodded, "Exactly. Now make sure that you distribute each and every copy of the photo. There should be enough to go around the whole village. Good luck."

Tenten got up, "Wait, what are the scrolls for?"

"After you've finished with the copies in the bag, there are several more in the scrolls. Finish up with a big bang. From what I understand your technique 'Rising Twin Dragons' will be very helpful with that."

Tenten smirked, fully understanding what the man meant. She watched him leave before opening the bag and taking out a copy of the photo. She covered her mouth and laughed at what she saw. As was to be expected it was a photo of Naruto. In the photo Naruto was fast asleep in bed. In his arms was a teddy bear and he was sucking on his thumb. It was definitely a side of him that nobody was aware of. At least not for long anyways.

Tenten washed up, got dressed and ate breakfast, eager to get started. She knew exactly where to start with this. Moving quickly she went to the Hyuga estate. She knew that Hinata would be leaving on a trip with her father that morning and wanted to get there in time to see her before she left. She arrived just as Hiashi and Hinata left the front gates. Picking up the pace, Tenten managed to catch them before they got too far.

"Hey Hinata-chan! Wait up!"

The shy girl stopped, her father stopping as well. He seemed slightly annoyed at having to but said nothing. Tenten gave him a small, formal bow. "Sorry Hiashi-sama but may I speak with Hinata in private for just a minute?"

The head of the Hyuga clan sighed a little in frustration, "Very well, but don't take long. Hinata and I are already running late as it is."

Tenten bowed again and thanked him. She and Hinata went a short distance away where Hiashi could still see them but not hear them. The girl seemed depressed, no doubt still upset because of Naruto. Tenten desperately wanted to hug her, but restrained herself and focused on the reason she came to see her.

"How have you been lately Hinata-chan?"

"I…I-I'm fine."

Tenten didn't buy it. The look on Hinata's face clearly showed she was anything but 'fine'. She looked like she hadn't cheered up at all since Naruto had taken her diary and read it. Tenten placed her hand on Hinata's shoulder.

"Hinata, you don't have to hold it all in. I can tell you're still upset about what Naruto did. Talk to me, you'll feel better if you just get it off your chest."

Hinata sniffled, "I…I don't know what to think of him anymore Tenten. He kept telling me he was sorry. B-but each time he did, he went and did something worse than what he apologized to me for. A-and then I just couldn't take it anymore and I told him I hated him."

Tenten smiled, "And you have every right to hate him. The way he treated you was wrong. I'd hate him too if I went through what you did."

"B-but I don't hate him. I…I only said that because I was upset." A few stray tears streaked down Hinata's face. "I-I still care for him, but I…I don't know if I can trust him any more." More tears escaped her eyes, "I-It makes me feel sick and confused. H-how can I…I be in love with such a…a jerk!?"

Tenten felt a pang of sorrow in her heart seeing the former object of her affections so upset. She tried to calm her down before she could get anymore upset. It took a minute but Hinata managed to dry her tears, wiping her eyes clean of them.

"S-sorry Tenten, I didn't mean to get so emotional."

"Hey it's okay. You've been through a lot the past couple weeks. As for Naruto, I wouldn't waste my tears over him if I were you, he isn't worth it. Here look at this." Tenten pulled out a copy of the photo and handed it to Hinata. The shy girl took one look at it and a mild blush came to her cheeks.

"T-tenten, where did you get this!?"

"It's just a little something a friend of mine showed me. Makes you think about that jerk a little differently doesn't it?"

Hinata gave a small smile and nodded. Tenten was happy to see Hinata had cheered up a little. She wished the girl a safe trip and went off to finish her work. Hinata rejoined her father and they set off, Hinata in a better mood.

Tenten made her way to the academy next. It was still too early for any classes to start which made it the perfect next distribution area. Tenten arrived on the school grounds and quickly snuck inside. She went into each classroom one at a time, tossing a copy of each photo on each desk. Seeing as the classrooms alone would ensure the entire school got a copy, she left.

Tenten continued her mission, going from place to place in the village and distributing the photos. She didn't hit any residential areas yet, but instead focused on the business district. She hit every store, stand, restaurant etc, and leaving ample copies at each. By this time the bag was pretty much empty, only seven photos left. She set them aside, planning on putting them to good use later. It was time for the grand finale.

Tenten pulled out the two scrolls. Judging from their size there were probably enough photos in each to cover part of the village. The brunette frowned, not understanding how Twisted expected her to 'go out with a bang' when he gave her so little to work with. She opened one of the scrolls and released the first of many seals. To her surprise she found not one photo, but ten. If there was as many in each of the seals, then there would be more than enough to finish the job. But that still left the problem of how she'd cover the entire village. Her 'Rising Twin Dragons' technique could only cover so big an area. After a moment's thought she came up with a plan. She'd spread out her technique, doing it a little bit at a time. There were plenty of tall buildings that would allow her not only an excellent view of the village, but would make for great distribution points.

Tenten smiled to herself, it would be tedious and tiring but she'd get it done. She counted the number of seals in the scroll she opened. There were twenty, including the one she had already released. That meant there were two hundred pictures in each scroll, and a total of four hundred in all. More than enough. It looked like she could pull off the finale Twisted wanted after all. But first she wanted to do something else.

Taking out the remaining seven photos from the bag she set off. She headed to her team's training grounds first, finding Lee hard at work there as expected. He was in the middle of trying to do a hundred push ups using only one of his arms. He hadn't seen her yet, which she counted as a good thing. The last time she had accidentally interrupted him while he was training he had somehow managed to make her join him. It hadn't been a pleasant experience, since every time she wasn't able to meet the requirements of his training (1000 jumping jacks, 500 sit ups, etc) he had made her go on to something else. So instead of relieving that hellish day, she played it safe. She took one of the photos and threw it like a shuriken, it skidding across the ground and coming to a stop right in front of Lee.

Lee got distracted and lost count of how many push ups he had done so far when he saw the picture of Naruto suddenly slide in front of his face, seemingly out of nowhere. While he stopped to look at it, Tenten was already on her way to another training ground. It was the one Kurenai's team used. There she found Shino and Kiba, both practicing their own unique styles of ninjutsu. Unlike when she had gone to see Lee, Tenten let her presence be known. Not that she would be able to hide well from Kiba and Akamaru's keen senses of smell.

Once they took notice of her she tossed a photo to each of them and then left to return to the village. As she left she could hear Kiba laugh and smiled to herself. She just couldn't wait to see the look on Naruto's face. She counted off a list in her head. Kiba, Shino and Lee had each gotten a copy of the photo. That just left Sakura, Ino, and Neji. Since she didn't know when Neji would be returning from his mission she opted to just give him a copy when she saw him next. She got back to the village and went straight for the Hokage's office. She knew she'd find Sakura there and she did have an extra photo that she could leave for the Hokage. Then she'd finish up the mission.

On the way she stopped at the Yamanaka family's flower shop. Ino was at the counter, flipping through a magazine and looking bored. Tenten gulped, nervous about approaching the blonde. Interacting with a girl she liked was hard enough for Tenten, but the fact that Ino morally opposed same gender relationships made it even more difficult. Just looking at her and knowing that was hard for Tenten. Nevertheless, she went into the shop and up to the counter. Ino looked up from that magazine and smiled. (She was blissfully ignorant of Tenten liking other girls.)

"Hey Tenten, what's up?"

Tenten smiled back, "Nothing, just going around the village and leaving these everywhere."

She took out a photo and held it out to Ino. The blonde girl took it and laughed, "Naruto sucks his thumb!?"

At that moment the door to the shop opened, Sakura entering. Hearing Ino laughing, she went up to join the other girls at the counter. "Hey what's so funny Ino-pig?"

Ino stifled her laughter, ignoring that Sakura called her 'pig' again. She held up the photo for Sakura to see, "Take a look at this!"

Sakura took one look and tried not to laugh, but failed. "Is that really Naruto!? I can't believe he actually sleeps with a teddy bear! Where did you find that?"

Tenten smirked, "I gave it to her. Here…" She pulled out another copy and gave it to Sakura. The pink haired girl took it, a wicked grin on her face. "I am _never_ going to let him live this down."

Tenten excused herself and left, Ino and Sakura getting into a heated conversation of all the ways they could tease Naruto now. Tenten continued her way to the Hokage's office. She reached the building and focused chakra into the soles of her feet. She ran up the side of the building and found the open window that looked into Tsunade's office. It was empty at the moment, allowing Tenten to toss a copy of the photo in unnoticed. It landed perfectly centered on Tsunade's desk, right where she would find it. Tenten saw the door in the office opening and quickly got out of sight, peeking inside.

Tsunade entered her office, letting out a sigh. She had just returned from the hospital where she had finished training Sakura for the day. She would have made the lesson longer but there was a mountain of paperwork waiting to be finished. The mere thought of the countless papers stacked on her desk gave her a migraine.

Tenten watched as the older woman sat at her desk, pulling out a bottle of sake from one of the larger bottom drawers. She set the bottle down on the desk and braced herself for the countless hours of work ahead. Before she could reach for any of the paperwork, Tsunade finally noticed the photo lying on her desk. The old woman picked it up and burst out laughing. Outside the window, Tenten smiled in satisfaction and went off to finish her task.

A few minutes later she came to her first destination, one of the taller buildings in the village. Once again focusing chakra into her feet, Tenten ran up the side until she reached the top. She took out the scrolls and jumped into the air. She released two seals on one scroll and three on the other and then quickly threw the photos as though they were shuriken all around her. The thrown photos went a short distance and then drifted down to the ground, dispersed evenly in the surrounding area.

Tenten repeated the process another seven times in other parts of the village. Having finally distributed every last copy (minus the one she saved for Neji) she made her way back to her room and collapsed onto her bed, tired but triumphant.

_**-End Flashback-**_

"Then I took a nap. When I got up I went back out and took a walk around the village. A lot of people had found the photos by then and I kept walking until I saw you and Naruto on your way to see Tsunade-sama. So I followed you and peeked in through the window. And that's when you came out and caught me."

Neji remained silent as Tenten finished telling him about her day. The two soon reached Tenten's home, slowing to a stop. Neji turned to face her, "I really am impressed Tenten. What you did was no small task, even though it really shouldn't have been done."

Tenten smiled sheepishly, "I know. I wish I had known earlier about what you found out from Naruto; I wouldn't have done it then."

"Don't worry about it; you aren't the one to blame for all of this. Now it's getting late and I need to return home. While Hiashi-sama and Hinata-sama are away I've been asked to keep an eye on Hanabi-sama."

"So you're stuck babysitting until they come back?"

"Yes, I suppose I am. I'll see you tomorrow, good night."

"Good night Neji."

Tenten went inside and Neji went back to the Hyuga estate, the both of them looking forward to a good rest. It had been a long day for them both and odds were they would have a few more ahead of them.

----------

Meanwhile Hinata laid back in her bed, staring at the ceiling. She and her father had traveled a considerable distance over the course of the day. As evening rolled in they stopped at a hotel for the night, planning on continuing in the morning. Hiashi was currently making use of the hotel's hot springs, leaving Hinata alone in their room. She pulled out the photo of Naruto that Tenten had given her earlier that day, looking at it with the same love and admiration she always felt for the boy.

"Good night, Naruto-kun."

A small smile came to her lips as she continued to look at the photo. Tenten was right; it did make you think differently about him. As Hinata looked at it she thought, no she _knew_ that there was no way Naruto could do all the things he did to her without a reason. She recalled a time when she had asked him why he was being so mean to her and how he told her that he wanted to tell her why, but couldn't. And then there was the time before that when she had seen that odd person in the cloak talking to Naruto in the woods. Hinata came to the conclusion that maybe it was that person who was behind what Naruto did. Letting out a small yawn she covered herself up in her blanket and drifted off to sleep, promising herself to go and speak with Naruto when she got back to the village. Her father wouldn't like it, but what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him.

TBC

Okay, so like I mentioned before, a little plot development going on here. Hope some of you can guess where this is going. Next chapter it's Kiba's turn.


	4. Chapter 4

Well I think it's time for me to get back to the original purpose of my story. Making Naruto suffer and be humiliated unlike ever before. So without further ado, let the torture continue.

**Chapter 4)**

Naruto took a seat at Ichiraku's ramen stand. Both Teuchi and Ayame were busy preparing for the long day ahead of them. Their shop had only opened a short while ago and they had only just started cooking the ramen mere moments ago. Odds were it would be a short while before any of it was ready to eat. Naruto however was being rather impatient and started to bang his fist on the counter.

"Hey! A little service would be nice!"

Teuchi and his daughter were momentarily stunned by Naruto's outburst. It wasn't the first time he had come here in a bad mood, but it was definitely the first time he had talked to them so rudely. Teuchi wrote it off as the kid having an usually bad morning whereas Ayame just thought of it as Naruto joking around with them. After all he had been calling her father 'old man' for years. She went up to him, giving him a warm smile. "Sorry Naruto, but the ramen won't be ready for a little bit. Would you like something to drink while you wait?"

"Nah, I'll wait for the food. So how long until it's going to be ready?"

"Not long, if you change your mind just let me know."

She turned to go back to helping her father. Naruto saw opportunity and knocked over a plastic container full of disposable chopsticks. He made it look like and accident, as though it toppled over when he tried to take out a pair for himself. The chopsticks scattered all over the floor behind the counter. As a finally touch Naruto feigned it as being unintentional.

"Oops. Sorry about that."

Ayame smiled, "That's okay; it was an accident."

She bent down and started to pick up the chopsticks. Naruto smirked, now having a nice view of the older girl's backside.

"Hey Ayame, are you on the menu? You look good enough to eat."

Over at his place by the stove, Teuchi glared at Naruto out of the corner of his eye. Ayame blushed and stood straight again. She turned to face the boy, "What are you saying Naruto?!"

"You know what I'm saying. You're pretty hot and I for one wouldn't mind it if you went out with me."

"Naruto, I'm a little old for you. Maybe you should date a girl closer to your age."

"What you mean some flat chested brat who only goes for a guy if he's popular, cool and hot? No thanks. I prefer my girls a little more mature. So what do ya say? I am gonna be Hokage one day."

"Naruto, you're sweet and I do like you. But you're more like a little brother to me. Besides, you aren't really my type."

Naruto frowned, "Aww come on. Why not? Do you have any idea how jealous other women would be if you were my wife when I become Hokage? You could brag to them about how you get to share a bed with me every night. And trust me I'd make sure you'd have plenty to brag about, if you know what I mean."

Ayame's blush grew redder, the girl speechless. Teuchi however was not. He had heard every last word Naruto had said and was anything but amused. Leaving his spot he went over and stood between Naruto and his daughter. He slammed his palms down on the counter and looked the boy in the eyes.

"Naruto I don't know what you're trying to pull, but if this is supposed to be some kind of joke it _isn't_ funny!"

Naruto met his gaze, "No joke old man. I'm absolutely serious about wanting your daughter as my property."

That was it, Teuchi couldn't stomach anymore of this. "Naruto! _**GET OUT!!!**_"

Naruto high tailed it out of there before Teuchi decided to throw things at him. He laughed as he ran, highly amused by his own antics. Running around a corner into an alleyway he sat down against the wall of a building and calmed down. That had been more fun than he had thought.

"Man I only wish I could see the look on Naruto's face the next time he goes there!"

He laughed again, catching the attention of a small white dog that was nearby. Akamaru ran into the alley and up to the boy, sniffing him. His tail started to wag and he let out a happy bark. _Naruto_ panicked momentarily, looking around and hoping nobody saw him. Once confirming the coast was clear he picked Akamaru up and looked the little guy in the eyes.

"Not now boy. You can't be following me around today. At least not until I'm done. People need to believe I'm really Naruto and if they see you following me around some of them might get suspicious. Understand?"

Akamaru whimpered, believing his master was angry with him. Kiba sighed and released the transformation, allowing his loyal partner to look at him face to face. "I'm sorry Akamaru, but you really need to go home. I promise I'll make it up to you when I'm done. I just need to go to a couple places and do some stuff."

He set Akamaru in his lap and scratched him behind the ears. Akamaru cheered right up, wagging his tail happily. Kiba got up and put Akamaru back on the ground. The pup ran off, heading for home to await Kiba's return. Once his loyal companion was gone, Kiba resumed the transformation and made a beeline to the academy. Classes would be starting soon so he had to get there fast. He snuck into his old classroom and even made a point of picking out Naruto's old seat to wait in. After a short wait, the students came filing into the room. Some of them taking their normal seats, some not, but all of them took notice of the older boy lounging in their classroom.

Konohamaru, along with Udon and Moegi, went up to him. The three young ninja-to-be were the only ones who knew Naruto and therefore were the most curious as to why he was there. Knowing the older boy best, Konohamaru stepped forward to confront him.

"Hey Naruto, what're you doing here?"

_Naruto_ looked at him somewhat disinterestedly, "Nothing, I'm just gonna be hanging out here for a while."

Before the third Hokage's grandson could question _Naruto _further, Iruka entered the classroom and took a seat at his desk. It was only when he looked to check attendance that he noticed his former student sitting among his current ones.

"Naruto? What are you doing here?"

_Naruto_ sat up straight, "Hey Iruka-sensei. I got sent back to the academy for the day because I screwed up my last mission really bad. Didn't grandma tell you that?"

Iruka gawked at the boy for a moment, not sure of whether to believe him or not. "You're joking right? You didn't really get sent back to the academy."

"Sorry sensei but I did. Grandma was really mad when she heard I messed up my mission. She said I didn't have a choice in the matter or something like that."

Iruka slapped his hand to his forehead, still not believing what he was hearing. His students on the other hand found it to be funny. With the exception of Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon, they were all laughing and calling him names like 'loser', 'idiot', etc. _Naruto_ stood up looking offended and pointed down at Iruka.

"Hey it's not my fault! If Iruka wasn't such a lousy sensei maybe I wouldn't be here right now!"

Now Iruka was the one who looked offended, not to mention shocked and mildly irritated. "What!? What do you mean by that Naruto?!"

"Just that you didn't teach me anything that I was actually able to use on a mission that's all." He turned to look around at the students "If you guys are smart you won't listen to anything Iruka teaches you. That's what I should have done and look at what happened to me! I'm right back here because of it!"

Iruka stood, slamming his palms onto his desk. He was really getting irritated now. "Naruto that is enough! Don't any of you listen to what he said! Everything you learn here at the academy is essential for getting through even the most basic of missions when you become a genin."

_Naruto_ scoffed, "Yeah right like what? Your lecture on the mathematics behind throwing shuriken and kunai? Here's how you throw shuriken or kunai, you aim at your target, throw as hard as you can and hope you don't miss!"

Some of the students murmured to each other about what they had just heard. Iruka was starting to worry that they might actually believe it. Fortunately for him he had reasoning on his side.

"Naruto it is exactly that kind of stupid idea that kept you from graduating from the academy at first and I have no doubt that it is also the reason you ended up back here! You need to think before you act when you're on a mission otherwise you could very well end up in serious trouble. I for one am very happy that you were sent back to the academy for the day! Now the students can see first hand what kind on ninja they _shouldn't_ be!"

_Naruto_ smirked, "But Iruka-sensei, they already see you every day they come here."

Iruka's face turned red out of anger, it was a wonder that steam wasn't shooting from his ears. He gritted his teeth as over half the students laughed at the insult he just received. Thankfully some of them didn't think it was funny. One girl in particular stood up to defend her sensei from the verbal abuse he was getting from his former student.

"Don't talk about Iruka-sensei that way! Why should we listen to you anyway?! Aren't you the one who was in those pictures that were all over the village yesterday?!"

All the other students suddenly realized the girl was right. They all pointed and laughed at _Naruto. _Iruka was the only one who wasn't laughing at the boy, although he was smiling smugly. _Naruto_ didn't seem to care; in fact he seemed to enjoy the negative attention they were giving him. His face broke out into a wide grin and he jumped onto his desk.

"That's right! I'm Naruto Uzumaki and I suck my thumb at night while I cuddle with my teddy bear Mr. Yum-Yum! Iruka-sensei gave him to me so I wouldn't be lonely or afraid at when I go to bed!"

That earned a roar of laughter from the whole class, except Iruka. The chunin looked a bit confused. He never gave Naruto a teddy bear; at least he didn't think he did. Iruka didn't have time to finish his thoughts as he witnessed _Naruto_ form a hand sign and perform none other than the sexy jutsu. The students all gawked as the boy turned into a curvy blonde bombshell. However there was a difference from the way the jutsu was normally performed. There were no clouds to censor the more private areas of the female _Naruto's_ body. Thankfully _she_ was instead wearing an orange bikini.

_Naruko_ looked down at Iruka, winking and blowing him a kiss. The scarred ninja felt a sudden wave of Déjà vu. He joined his student's in gawking at the spectacle. _Naruko_ giggled and sauntered down to the front of the classroom. Once there she turned to face the students.

"This is how I graduated from the academy the first time. I used this jutsu on Iruka sensei and he was putty in my hands. If you kids want I can teach it to you and then you'll be out of here and doing missions in no time."

Iruka snapped out of his daze, suddenly becoming very angry. He smacked _Naruko_ over the head making _her_ go back to being _Naruto_. It was a good thing Kiba knew it was coming otherwise he may have lost control of the transformation and his cover would have been blown. He turned to look the highly irritated chunin in the eyes.

"What was that for sensei?!"

"For misleading my students with your ridiculous nonsense! Get out before you do any more damage! I don't know what Tsunade-sama had in mind by sending you here, but it clearly isn't working!"

_Naruto_ backed towards the classroom door, "Okay, okay I get it. Jeez sensei I was just fooling around. Lighten up a little. The students might like you better if you didn't act like you had a stick up your butt all the time."

He left before Iruka could do or say anything in response. Kiba laughed to himself, imagining what it might be like the next time Iruka and the real Naruto saw one another. He'd pay to see that. But for now he had one more stop to make. Leaving the school grounds he went straight to the nearest bathhouse. He walked along the fence that surrounded the women's side, using his keen sense of smell to search for something. After a moment he realized that what he was looking for wasn't there so he went to the next bath house, the one that had opened a short while ago, and searched there next.

This time he found what he was looking for, or rather who he was looking for. If he was right, Sakura was in the bath right now. He checked again, sniffing the air. Yup, Sakura was in there and so was Tsunade. They must be on a break or something. No matter, Kiba just thought of how much better it was going to be when he did this. Trying not to laugh he climbed the fence and peeked over the side. He could clearly make out the forms of Sakura and Tsunade in the bath. They had towels wrapped around their bodies, preventing him from seeing anything.

Now it was time for the fun part. He focused some charka into his right leg and then kicked the fence, breaking it and making him fall forward. The student and sensei immediately noticed him, just like he planned they would.

Sakura ducked down into the water despite already being covered up. "Naruto! What the hell are you doing!?"

_Naruto_ got up, "What do you think? I'm getting a better look at that gorgeous body of yours. After all, what else are women good for?"

Tsunade's jaw dropped momentarily in shock, "Naruto! I can't believe the words that just came out of your mouth!"

_Naruto_ looked at her and rolled his eyes "Relax Granny, I'm not trying to peep on you. I wouldn't want to strain my eyes by looking at that wrinkled carcass you call a body."

Now, the real Naruto has had the privilege, if you'd call it that, of seeing Tsunade when she's been extremely angry before. But for Kiba, this was a first. It didn't help that she was the Hokage, not to mention on of the three sannin. The Inuzuka stood frozen in fear under Tsunade's intense glare. It was only when she got up and advanced on him that he remembered how to use his legs.

He leapt back over the fence and ran for his life. Thankfully both Tsunade and Sakura had the decency to go and get redressed before chasing him. That bought him a few minutes during which he put as much distance between him and them as possible. Unfortunately it wasn't enough.

Just when Kiba had thought he lost the angry kunoichi he looked over his shoulder only to see them coming after him still. The rush of adrenaline renewed his strength and he began to run again. It would only be a matter of time before Tsunade and Sakura caught up to him, then it would be all over. He'd lose hold of the transformation and then he'd have to answer for everything he'd done all day disguised as Naruto. He needed a way to ditch them and fast. Thinking quickly he pulled a smoke bomb out of his ninja tools pouch and threw it. Now with a smokescreen for cover he turned into the nearest ally and released the transformation.

Tsunade and Sakura got there just as the smoke cleared. Noticing that _Naruto_ was nowhere in sight they checked the alley, it being the most logical place to look. Kiba, acting nonchalant walked past them. Still not finding who she was looking for, Tsunade turned to the boy for answers.

"Kiba did you see Naruto come through here!?"

He nodded, "Yeah. He climbed up onto the rooftops. Looked like he was in a hurry."

Tsunade didn't need to hear anymore. In a single jump she got up onto the rooftops and resumed her search for Naruto. Sakura hesitated before deciding not to bother following her mentor. She was thinking that maybe Naruto wasn't to blame for what had gone on in the baths. The alley was a dead end so it made sense that Naruto, if he had really come through here, would have to go up on the roofs. But why was Kiba there? She couldn't think of any explanations for it and became suspicious of the Inuzuka boy. She waited for him to leave and then another minute to let him get ahead. Once it was safe she started to follow him, making sure not to let him know what she was doing.

Kiba kept walking, completely oblivious to the girl tailing him. He was still a little rattled from having the Hokage chase him across the village. He made a mental note to _never_ make Tsunade angry again. It was hazardous to your health. What he needed was something to take his mind off that little mishap.

He saw Neji and Tenten a short distance ahead. Suddenly struck with an idea he checked to make sure no one was looking, still oblivious to Sakura spying on him. Kiba transformed into Naruto again and took off. He ran past Neji and Tenten, slapping Tenten on the rear. The weapon user blushed and glared at _Naruto_. He turned to look back at her while he kept running.

"Nice butt Tenten! Even better than Hinata's!"

He laughed and ran faster, quickly vanishing from Neji and Tenten's line of vision. Tenten was about to run after him to beat him senseless, but was stopped by Neji who took hold of her wrist.

"Let me go Neji! I'm going to give that knucklehead what he deserves!"

Neji released his hold on her, "Alright, but I don't think its Naruto want."

"What are you talking about!? Didn't you just see what he did!?"

"I saw him. I saw him _leaving_ this morning with Kakashi for training."

Tenten calmed down, realizing what Neji was getting at. "So…you're saying this is something Twisted came up with?"

Neji nodded, "I think we need to let the others know what's going on. Starting now."

"So if that wasn't Naruto, then who was it just now?"

"It was Kiba I saw him."

Neji and Tenten turned to see Sakura walking up to them. From the look on her face she wasn't in the best of moods. Tenten could relate.

"It was Kiba!? Wait, how do you know?"

"I saw him transform before he ran up to you guys. I was following him because I thought he was up to something."

Neji turned to face the direction the other boy ran in, "I see. Well we should go and talk to him then, you should come too Sakura."

"Oh plan on it! I need to give him a piece of my mind!"

The three went off together, heading for Kiba's home. They arrived and found Kiba out front with Akamaru, the small dog running around happily now that his master had returned. He noticed them and waved.

"Hey guys, what are you doing here?"

Sakura responded by punching him in the stomach. He doubled over in pain, winded.

"That's for peeping on me while I was in the bath you idiot!"

Kiba straightened back up, only for Tenten to slap him across the face. "And that's for touching my butt you creep!"

Kiba put his hand to his cheek, which was turning red where Tenten had hit him. "What the heck!? I didn't do any of that!"

Sakura crossed her arms "Don't lie, I saw you transform into Naruto before you slapped Tenten's butt."

"Yeah well. Twisted was the one who had me run around as Naruto all day!"

Neji stepped forward, "That's exactly why we're here Kiba. Tenten and I know something about Twisted that you and Sakura do not. We need to talk."

TBC.

Okay so I didn't get this up as soon as I would have liked. But I had to get back into school and I've been running around a lot the past week getting everything ready and settling into my schedule for the semester. Hopefully when I readjust I can get back on track and keep the new chapters coming at a smoother rate. Next time I'm thinking either Lee of Ino for the prank. Let me know what you think.


	5. Chapter 5

I'm back again with chapter five. After this the story is half done, good thing I got a lot of good stuff planned for the second half. Enjoy and reviews are appreciated!

Chapter 5)

Kiba blinked in confusion. "Wait…so Twisted made Naruto do all of that stuff to Hinata?"

Tenten nodded, "Yeah, at least that's what Neji thinks. But what I don't get is why he asked us to help him mess with Naruto. The guy is obviously more than capable of doing it by himself."

Neji answered her, "For the same reason he made Naruto do everything he did to Hinata. He doesn't want anyone to know that he's the mastermind. The fact he blackmailed Naruto is proof of that. What we need to know why he wanted to target Hinata in the first place with his sick little game."

The four genin spent the next few moments quietly thinking for an explanation for this. None of them came up with any valid reason. Neji pondered the fact that Twisted may very well have a grudge against either Naruto or the Hyuga clan, but dismissed it. If that was the case, then surely the revenge the man was seeking would amount to more than mere blackmail and harassment. After another moment or two, Sakura broke the silence, a thought occurring to her.

"Wait, what about Ino, Lee and Shino? Have you told them yet Neji?"

The boy shook his head, "No, to be honest we only just found out for ourselves yesterday. It may be a good idea to find them and let them know."

Tenten suddenly got excited, bouncing up and down and waving her hand in the air as though she was trying to answer a question. "Ooh! I get to tell Ino-chan!"

Sakura and Kiba stared at the girl as she acted out of character. Neji told them very briefly that Tenten liked girls and had a crush on Ino. Sakura turned to the other girl, raising an eyebrow.

"You do realize that Ino likes boys right?"

Tenten nodded, "Yeah, but I can try can't I?"

Sakura smiled, "Just checking. If you want to know, Ino _loves_ dango. It's her weakness. No matter how serious a diet she's on she can't resist the stuff!"

"Really? Thanks Sakura! I'll keep that in mind!"

She took off, searching for the object of her affections. Neji shook his head, sensing things may not go well for his teammate and then turned towards the other.

"I'll go find Lee and tell him."

Kiba nodded, "Okay. I'll find Shino and Sakura can tell Naruto."

He turned to leave as well but didn't get to take so much as a single step before Sakura grabbed him by the ear.

"You aren't going anywhere until we sort out the mess you made! We're going to see Tsunade-sama and anyone else you interacted with while you were disguised as Naruto!"

She dragged him off by the ear, Akamaru following along side. Neji didn't stop her, she had the right idea. Besides, he felt that Shino didn't need to be told soon seeing as the boy was smart enough to figure things out for himself. As for telling Naruto, it might be better to leave him out of this. After all if Naruto knew about Twisted's current plans, the boy might confront the dark man by himself and Neji thought it would be best to avoid that scenario.

Neji went off to locate Lee before it started to get late. He would later discover that his teammate and sensei had gone off on a training retreat for a couple days. It looked like telling the Taijutsu specialist would have to wait, but on the bright side that also meant that Lee wouldn't be performing any tasks for Twisted. That is, at least not until he got back with Gai. That only left Ino, which Tenten had covered.

Or so he thought. The blonde girl had been sent on an overnight mission with her team. The earliest they would be returning was in the morning. It looked like telling Ino would need to wait as well.

The sun set and then rose again. It had neared its peak in the sky as noontime came around. Tenten mad her way down the street, headed for the Yamanaka family's flower shop. She figured it was the best place to look for Ino since she usually worked there. Upon arriving at the shop she saw Ino's father of all people at the counter. He had somehow had the luck of covering his daughter's shift for the day. Needless to say the man felt a bit embarrassed. Apparently Ino had left not too long after she had gotten back from her mission, staying only long enough to take a shower and change clothes. She hadn't said where she was going, only that she'd be gone a while on an errand of some kind.

Tenten quickly came to the conclusion that Ino might be doing this _errand_ for Twisted. She thanked Inoichi for the info and took off. Instead of trying to find Ino this time, Tenten looked for Naruto. By finding him she'd definitely find Ino. Since it was lunchtime, she went to Ichiraku's where she knew Naruto ate breakfast, lunch and dinner.

When she got there, Ino wasn't anywhere in sight. She could hear Naruto at the counter though. The boy was talking very loudly about…boys!? That was what Tenten was hearing, Naruto was talking about boys. Very much like a girl would. Tenten realized something was fishy and resumed searching for Ino. Odds were that the girl was hiding around here somewhere, most likely behind what Naruto was doing.

After a minute of looking around, she went into an alleyway across the street from Ichiraku's. There, she found Ino. The blonde girl was sitting on the ground, back up against the side of a building. Her head was hanging down and she looked unconscious. Tenten was immediately filled with worry for the younger girl and ran over to check her. But before Tenten could check if Ino was okay, said girl suddenly roused from her comatose state and regained consciousness. A big grin broke out on her face and she started to giggle. Tenten felt a wave of relief wash over her, followed by confusion.

"Ino? Are you alright?"

The blonde kunoichi stifled her giggling and took notice of the older girl. "Tenten, what are you doing here?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing. I found you just sitting here, like you were unconscious and I was worried you might be hurt."

Ino got up, brushing herself off, "I'm fine. I was just messing with Naruto."

"So it's your turn to help Twisted?"

"Yeah, he came up with this genius idea. I follow Naruto all day and use my mind transfer jutsu on him. Then I make him act like a total fool!"

Tenten blinked, "So…that's what you were doing just now? That would explain why Naruto was talking about how dreamy boys are."

Ino giggled again, "You should have seen the look on everyone's faces! I only wish I could have kept it up just a little longer, but I can't afford to leave my body alone for too long. Some creep might walk by and try something."

It made sense; after all while Ino used her jutsu her body was defenseless. And an unconscious young girl just lying on the street would be very tempting to a pervert. Now, Tenten wasn't a pervert, but she still found the idea of an unconscious and unattended Ino to be very, very tempting. She decided that telling Ino about Twisted could wait. She had a new objective now.

"Hey Ino, I have an idea. Why don't I come along with you and keep an eye on your body? That way you don't have to worry about anything happening to it when you use your jutsu."

"That's a great idea Tenten! Come on; let's go before we lose Naruto."

The two girls left the alley. They saw Naruto heading in the direction of the business district. Staying a good distance away, they tailed him. Ino waited for him to stay perfectly still and then used her jutsu. The first time it had been easy because the boy had been sitting down. But this time he could move at any second and she'd have to wait to try again. Thankfully she hit her mark while he was looking in the window of the weapon's shop. Ino's body collapsed, Tenten catching it before it hit the ground. She gently set the empty body down, resisting the urge to lay Ino's head in her lap.

Over with Naruto, Ino's mind had successfully taken control of his body. The blonde grinned and walked away from the weapon's shop and over to another store across the street. It was a clothing store that sold only women's clothing. Ino walked Naruto's body into the store and started to look around.

Back outside, Tenten was sitting on the ground, keeping an eye on Ino's body like she had promised the girl. She reached down and brushed a stray strand of hair from the other girl's face. Just as she pulled her hand away, Ino roused. She sat up, her face breaking into a grin and trying hard not to laugh.

"So what did you do this time?"

"I left him right in the middle of the store holding a thong!"

Tenten almost burst out laughing, but contained herself. "What? Oh I have _got _to see the look on his face when he gets out of there!"

They both peeked from their hiding place, waiting for the boy to exit the store. He came running out, a blush on his face as well as a look of severe confusion. Both girls snickered as Naruto left the area, still blushing out of embarrassment. The girls waited until he was a safe distance away before going to follow him again. They followed him as he neared the library. Tenten was struck with an idea and whispered it to Ino. The blonde grinned wickedly and together the two went up onto the roof of a building across the street.

Naruto kept walking, almost past the library when he got hit by Ino's jutsu again. Back under Ino's control, Naruto entered the library. Ino moved his body past all the rows bookshelves until it reached the very last one. She channeled Naruto's chakra into his palm and placed it on the shelf. A single, strong push was all it took to topple the shelf over. It collided with the next shelf and that one hit the one in front of it. The process repeated in a domino effect, each shelf knocking over the one in front of it.

By sheer chance, there was only one person who was caught in the chaos. It was Sakura who was on the opposite end of the toppling shelves. The sound of them colliding with each other caught her attention. She was about to go and see what was going on when the shelf in front of her tipped forward. Acting quickly she put up her arms and stopped the shelf from knocking over the next one as well as crushing her. Using a lot of her strength she pulled the shelf forward and set it back upright, the one behind it landing flat on the floor. She then went to check was caused this mess, making sure the shelf she had caught was stable first. Her eyes landed on Naruto, who was standing dumbly at the scene before him. Ino had vacated his body the second she had made him knock over the first shelf.

Back out on the roof top Ino returned to her body. She sat up and smiled sheepishly, "I think I may have messed that one up."

"What happened? All you had to do was push over one shelf."

"Um, well I did. But then it sort of knocked a few more shelves over."

"Did anyone get hurt?"

Ino shrugged, "I don't know. The last thing I saw before I left Naruto's body was the shelf I pushed over knocking over the next one."

"Stay here, I'll go in and look."

Tenten hopped down from the roof and nonchalantly walked into the library. Inside she saw at least ten bookshelves that had been toppled over and books lying all around that same area. She looked around and didn't see anyone lying under the fallen shelves, but she did see Sakura helping Naruto clean up the mess. She left and rejoined Ino back on the roof.

"It doesn't look like anyone got hurt, but Naruto looks pretty miserable."

"No surprise there, he doesn't remember a thing about what happened. So what should I make him do next?"

"He might be in there a while. The librarian is making him pick up everything. Want to get something to eat while he's busy with that?"

Ino shook her head, "No thanks, I'm on a diet."

"Well okay, if you're sure. I'm going to just get something real quick. Be right back."

Tenten took off, heading for a little place she knew about. She returned a short while later, holding a small take out bag. Ino was still there waiting for her; Naruto was still in the library. While they continued to wait for the boy to leave the building, Tenten reached into the bag for some of her food. The contents of the bag immediately caught Ino's eye.

"Is that dango?"

Tenten nodded, "Want some? I thought you might change your mind so I got extra."

Ino thought it over in all of a half second, her love of the sweet dumplings getting the better of her. "Sure."

Tenten divided the dango between them, each girl getting three skewers with three of the dumplings on each. They two ate in silence, Tenten peeking on Ino out of the corner of her eye. The look on the girl's face was that of bliss. Sakura was right, Ino _loved_ dango. She made a mental note to thank the pink haired girl later for the tidbit of information. Her gaze focused on the front doors of the library as Naruto came out. Between Sakura helping him out and his shadow clone jutsu, he had been able to get everything back to the way it was before the mishap. The boy looked a little stressed out, not that anyone could blame him.

Ino finished off her dango, licking her lips. "Hey I just got an idea for what I can do next."

She quickly used her jutsu, repossessing Naruto yet again. She ran him down the street to the barbeque place her team always went to. She walked Naruto inside and got him a table. While she was in there, Tenten knelt down next to her body. She noticed that there was a tiny bit of dango on the corner of Ino's lips. She wiped it off with her finger and licked it up. Tenten blushed, wishing that she could have leaned down and just licked it off the blonde's face but knew better. If Ino were to return to her body at that moment, it would have been extremely awkward for them both.

A few minutes later Ino did return to her body, sitting up triumphant. Tenten smiled, thinking how cute Ino looked at the moment.

"So, what was your idea?"

Ino giggled, "I had him order everything on the menu, including all the desserts and side dishes. Hope he's hungry."

Tenten looked past the girl, "uh Ino. You might want to see this."

She pointed down to the restaurant, Ino turning to look. Naruto had just walked out, his luck having finally won out. Not long after Ino made his order and left his body, Choji and his father Chouza came up to him. Choji had been impressed by Naruto's immense order and the boy freaked when he heard what he had done. Fortunately for him the father and son offered to take the meal off his hands; they even said that they'd pay the bill. He thanked them and left feeling relieved.

Ino however wasn't too happy about it. While she didn't know how Naruto got out of that situation she didn't plan on letting it happen again. She quickly wracked her mind, coming up with another idea.

"Okay, I'm going to try something else, but it might take a little longer than what I've done so far. I'm going to run him up to Tsunade's office, take a bottle of her sake and pour all of it out right in front of her."

She used her jutsu, her body falling limp once again. Tenten thought over what Ino had said. 'It might take a little longer'? If Ino was going to be out of her body for even just a little bit longer than before, then Tenten pondered whether she could do something she had wanted to do. After a minute of thinking she decided that this would probably be her best chance. Tenten went and pulled Ino's body toward her, resting the blonde's head in her lap. She looked down at the other girl lovingly, starting to stroke the golden locks of her hair.

Ino's eyes fluttered open, the girl stirring. Tenten felt panic set in and tried to think up a way to explain herself, but it was too late. Ino quickly realized just where she was lying and pushed away from the brunette, getting to her feet and backing up a little.

"Tenten, what the hell is going on!? Were you just spooning me!?"

The weapon's mistress tried to explain herself, but couldn't seem to find the right words. Ino, however, figured things out for herself.

"You like girls!?" Ino's eyes widened in shock "Oh crap, I've been letting you watch my body all day while my mind was out of it! What else have you done to my body you pervert!?"

"Nothing! I swear! I'm sorry Ino, I know I shouldn't have done that but, it's just that I really like you a lot."

Ino glared at the girl, "Oh yeah? You know what I have to say to that?"

The blonde girl jumped down to the street and ran after Naruto. Tenten followed, wanting to set things right with her crush. Ino caught up with Naruto and stopped him. As Tenten got closer to the two blondes she saw Ino pull Naruto into a kiss. Tenten stopped in her tracks, looking on the scene stunned. From her position not to far behind Naruto, she thought that Ino was kissing him on the mouth. But the reality was that Ino was just kissing his cheek. Either way it definitely shocked Naruto who had confirmed he was having the weirdest day ever.

When Ino pulled away he brought his hand up to his cheek, "What did you do that for!?"

Ino giggled, "No reason. Just don't go thinking it means anything."

She walked back toward Tenten, Naruto looking at her over his shoulder before heading off himself and starting to think that all of the girl's in this village were crazy.

Ino stood in front of the brunette, enjoying the look on the girl's face.

"Why did you do that?"

"Because, even a total loser like Naruto has a better chance of getting to going out with me than you could ever hope for. So just incase you forget: I…like…_boys!_"

Ino turned on her heel and left for home. Tenten stood there for a moment, letting what Ino said sink in. Then she left too, the sting of reject piercing her heart. She didn't care where she went, so she just walked around the village aimlessly for a while. Eventually she came to a bridge over looking a small river of water that ran through the village and stopped. Tenten leaned on the side of the bridge's railing, looking down at the water and trying to overcome the depression she now felt.

She didn't know how long she had been standing there, but at some point Sakura showed up. The pink haired girl stood next to Tenten, leaning on the bridge's railing as well.

"Hey, I heard what happened. I ran into Ino and she told me everything."

Tenten hesitated for a few seconds before answering. "I should have just told her about Twisted like I was going to in the first place."

"Yeah, you probably should have. I told her and she wasn't too happy about it. But don't let what she said get to you. If anything I think she was trying to convince herself that she doesn't like girls."

Tenten looked up from the water, "What do you mean? She's in the closet?"

"If she is, even she doesn't know it. I don't think she knows how she feels about other girls. Her mother strictly opposes same gender couples and has pretty much forced that same belief on Ino. When we were younger we slept over each other's houses all the time. Once at her house she kissed me telling me I looked cute, I don't remember why. It was just an innocent little peck on the cheek, but her mother went ballistic. She washed Ino's mouth out with soap and made her stand in the corner as punishment."

"What happened after that?"

"Her mother scolded her, telling her that kissing me had been wrong and unnatural. Ino had been really upset about it; she didn't like her mother being angry with her."

"So, do you think that Ino might actually like other girls if she thought about it?"

"I didn't say that. But that doesn't mean that you're wrong. I'm just letting you know why Ino reacted the way she did."

Tenten smiled having cheered up. "Thanks Sakura, I feel a little better now."

The pinkette smiled back at her, "Don't mention it. I have to get going, I'll see you later."

Sakura left, heading home. Tenten returned her gaze to the water, her thoughts returning to her favorite blonde.

_'I'm not going to give up that easily Ino-chan. I'll get you to give me a chance, no matter what it takes."_

TBC

Well, that took longer than I thought it would. I was afraid it would be too short so I had to think up stuff to add into the story. Next chapter we have Lee's turn.


	6. Chapter 6

With the posting of this chapter my story has officially passed the halfway point. After some thought I've decided that what I was going to have Lee do would be a little too much out of character, even for him. So instead I switched around some parts of it to help move the plot along.

Chapter 6)

Rock Lee stood in front of Twisted, glaring at the man defiantly. They were at his team's training grounds where Twisted had found him performing his morning training regiment. It was Lee's turn and the Taijutsu specialist had been in no way pleased to hear what was asked of him. He crossed his arms and kept up his glare.

"I shall do no such thing!"

Twisted groaned in frustration, "Why the hell not!? Didn't you want to teach Naruto a lesson for his '_unyouthful_' behavior or whatever it was you called it?!"

"Yes, but I do not wish to sink down to his lever in order to so. What you are asking me is even more unyouthful than anything Naruto has done! And aside from that it is wrong!"

"Oh come on! All you have to do is go into the houses of each kunoichi in the village and take one, just _one_, pair of their underwear! That isn't so bad!"

Lee didn't seem to think so, "It is an invasion of the privacy of others and unyouthful! Gai-sensei would never accept such behavior of me!"

Twisted pinched the bridge of his nose through his mask, "Alright fine. What if _I_ do the dirty work and you can just go around spreading rumors of seeing Naruto doing it? Could you do that or is it still too low for your standards?"

Lee thought it over for a moment, "I still do not like it, but I will do it. To be honest I regret having ever agreed to help you in the first place. If I had known that this was what you had in mind I wouldn't have ever bothered. The only reason I'm doing this is because the others have already all done what you've asked of them and I refuse to be the only one to have backed out."

"Good! I'll let you know when you can start. I need to do my part first. Meet me at Naruto's apartment. He's out training by himself so he shouldn't be home for a while. I'll be there in a little under an hour, so feel free to do whatever you want until then."

Twisted stepped backand sank into the shadows. Lee watched as he left and then resumed his training, having been thrown off by the surprise visit.

"I was not able to finish five hundred sit ups so I must do one thousand jumping jacks. And if I cannot do one thousand jumping jacks then I shall run one hundred laps around the village on my hands!"

As to be expected of the boy, Lee got so involved in his training that he lost track of time. It was well past two hours before he suddenly remembered that he was supposed to meet with Twisted. Moving as fast as he could, Lee went to Naruto's apartment and knocked on the door. Twisted answered, grabbing the boy and pulling him in.

"You idiot! You aren't coming over for a visit! You were supposed to sneak inside, not knock on the front door!"

"But wouldn't sneaking into someone's home in broad daylight seem suspicious?"

"…Uh, good point. Anyway what took you so long!? I've been waiting for over an hour! Luckily I have a way to keep myself occupied."

Lee gawked at Twisted in shock. Twisted was able to guess what the boy was thinking. After all Twisted had just pulled a panty raid on every kunoichi in the village, so it was only natural for someone to misinterpret what he meant.

"It isn't what you think kid." He held up an orange book, "I was reading, that's all."

Lee eyed the man warily, not sure as to whether he should believe him or not. He was beginning to question Twisted more and more as time went on. Twisted turned and walked into Naruto's bedroom, beckoning for Lee to follow. Inside there was a pile of women's underwear on the blonde boy's bed. Lee averted his eyes, knowing that he shouldn't be looking at them. He felt dirty enough knowing he was originally supposed to be the one who stole them. Twisted went over to the bed and picked up a pair.

"I have to admit, I never would have guessed your teammate would wear something like this. I always thought she was a bit of a tomboy."

Lee's eyes widened in shock, "Those are Tenten's!? You stole hers too!? But she is one of the people helping you!"

"I can't discriminate; we need to make this convincing. Besides I said that we needed to steal from _every_ kunoichi. So I also stole from Sakura, Ino, and even Tsunade. But if it makes you feel any better I didn't take anything from Hinata. There wouldn't be a point in doing that since it would hurt my cause more than help it."

He put the underwear back down and pulled out a map of the village. He laid it out on the floor. Lee knelt down to look at it, Twisted pointing out a route for him to follow.

"Now all you have to do is follow this path and tell any of the kunoichi that you run into about seeing Naruto sneaking around with their underwear. When I was out I made sure to leave evidence behind that someone had been in their homes. Odds are that many of them will already be trying to figure out what happened. Just go around as thought you are trying to find Naruto so you can stop him. Say that he told you about what he was doing and you thought it was a joke. You don't have to tell all the kunoichi in the village. I'm fairly sure that they'll tell each other once they think Naruto was behind it. Then it will only be a matter of time before they all come looking for him. Any questions?"

"Are you sure that this will teach Naruto a lesson? Because I seriously doubt that there is anything worth learning from this."

"Trust me Lee; he'll learn a lesson alright. I'm going to make sure of it. I will personally stay here and tell him if I have to. Now I'm going to go and keep an eye on Naruto. When you finish going around the village wait for my signal. Then go to wherever Naruto is at the time and tell him what's going on. But do _NOT_ mention anything about either of us being involved."

Lee hesitated, "I am still not sure about this. It just does not seem right."

"Well it's a little late to back out now. But I'll tell you what, if by some chance something goes wrong and we're figured out, I'll take full responsibility for it. I'll admit to what I did and accept whatever punishment I'm given. Now enough stalling, we don't have all day. Let's get this over with."

Lee nodded and got up. He picked up the map and memorized the route on it. With that done he left to get started. He still didn't like doing this, but felt better about it after what Twisted had told him. But he made a mental note to keep his eyes on Twisted whenever he was around; there was something about him that just didn't seem right to Lee. He left through the front door and made his way to his first destination. It was a rather large apartment complex that many of the jonin lived at, including his sensei and the senseis of the rookie nine…er eight.

Running up to one of the doors he stopped and knocked politely. A minute later a dark haired woman with red eyes answered the door. Lee gave her a quick bow before speaking,

"Kurenai-sensei, I'm sorry for bothering you but have you seen Naruto around?"

"No I haven't, why do you ask?"

Lee intentionally hesitated, making it appear as if he was reluctant to answer her. "It is just that I think he may be up to no good. Earlier today he told me about something he had been planning to do, I thought he was merely joking at first, but now I am not so sure of that."

"Well, what is it he told you he was going to do?"

Once again Lee hesitated, "He said he going to…"

Lee mumbled the rest of the sentence, unable to say it. Kurenai blinked, not understanding what he was trying to say.

"What?"

Lee mumbled it again, but he was still to quiet for Kurenai to hear him clearly. "Lee you need to speak up, I have no idea what you're saying."

"He said he wished to go on a…panty raid."

Kurenai stood in silence, absorbing what she had just heard. She was still under the impression that Naruto had acted of his own free will when he had been harassing Hinata, so she had little reason to doubt what she had just heard was true. Although, just to be safe she wanted to make sure of it before she went and make any accusations.

"Are you sure that he was serious about this?"

Lee nodded, "I didn't think so at first but not too long ago I witnessed him climbing out of a window. It looked like he had something clutched in his hands and he had huge grin on his face, as though he had just done something to be proud of."

Now if not for the fact that Kurenai had personally witnessed some of Naruto's recent misbehavior, she would have still wanted more evidence before concluding that Naruto was in fact doing what Lee told her what he thought Naruto was doing. But sadly she had lost any trust she had in the boy ever since she had caught him holding an unconscious Hinata with her pants down. What Lee had just told her was all she needed to confirm that Naruto was the one who had somehow snuck into her house, when she was home of all times, and stolen her underwear. Normally she would have thought of speaking with Kakashi, Iruka, or Tsunade about a matter such as this since they were the closest thing the boy had to family, but she wasn't in the mood for it. She'd just take the matter into her own hands.

"Lee, I appreciate that you're going out of your way to try and stop Naruto, but I think it would be better if you let me handle this. There's a better chance that Naruto will listen to me than you. Besides, if Naruto really is out stealing women's underwear, it might be better if you weren't seen with him. Some people might mistake you for trying to help him."

A bead of sweat ran down Lee's face. Now he was really glad that Twisted had stolen all of the underwear in his place. Not once did it occur to him what would happen if he were to be caught in the act. He knew that some of the kunoichi in the village could be a bit…short tempered.

Mentally shaking it off, Lee gave Kurenai another quick bow and thanked her before taking off. Once he was gone Kurenai went a few doors down from her apartment and knocked. Anko Mitarashi answered the door. She was in a foul mood due to having also been a target of 'Naruto's panty raid.'

"What!?...Oh, sorry Kurenai. Thought you were someone else. You need something?"

"No, but I thought you'd like to know who was that went through your laundry this morning."

While Kurenai enlightened Anko about what she had just heard, Lee was almost to his next location. The Inuzuka compound, apparently Kiba's mother and older sister had been hit as well. Lee approached the front door and was about to knock when he heard yelling coming from inside. It seemed as though a family dispute was taking place.

He was considering whether he should bother continuing here or just move on to the next location when the front door slammed open, hitting him in the face and knocking him down.

Kiba stumbled out of the open door, having been shoved out by his older sister Hana. She was glaring at her younger sibling angrily. Kiba was glaring back, but looked more annoyed than angry.

"For the last time sis, _I didn't do it!!_"

"Don't give me that crap Kiba! Your scent is all over my room! Yours and no one else's! So if you didn't raid my underwear drawer then who did!?"

Kiba couldn't think of a way to explain that. Thankfully his mother came out and stood between them, trying to quell the senseless quarrel.

"That's enough out of both of you! Hana, stop blaming your brother. In case you forgot someone's been in my room too, but I don't detect anyone else's scent in there but my own. I think whoever snuck into our home can somehow mask their scent."

Hana backed off accusing her brother, "So how are we supposed to find the person responsible?"

At this time Lee had recovered from his blow to the head. He got up, somewhat disoriented, "I believe I can help you answer that."

The three turned to acknowledge the boy. Kiba blinked, "Lee? When did you get here?"

"I was about to knock on your door when it opened and struck me in the head. I came by to ask if you had seen Naruto."

"Naruto? No, I haven't seen him lately. Why? What's he done this time?"

"He may have been the one who was in your home earlier today."

"What!?" Kiba clenched his teeth. "That idiot! I'm gonna kick his butt!"

He turned to leave but was stopped when his mother grabbed his shoulder. "No Kiba. Leave this to your sister and me. Stay here until we get back."

Kiba grumbled about it but did as told. The two Inuzuka women took off, leaving Kiba and Lee alone. Lee noticed how unsettled the other boy was and tried to cheer him up.

"If it makes you feel any better Kiba, it was not really Naruto. This whole thing is merely one of Twisted's schemes."

His words immediately caught Kiba's attentions. "What?! Twisted!? Oh man, I can't believe this! Wait a minute. Lee, are you helping him?"

The boy nodded, "Yes it is my turn to help teach Naruto a lesson. I am currently to go around and spread rumors about Naruto going around and stealing women's underwear."

Kiba grabbed him by the collar, "So _you_ stole my mom and sister's underwear!? You're going to regret that!"

"Kiba I assure you I did no such thing. Twisted asked me to do it but I refused so he did it instead."

Kiba let him go and ran off; not even thinking that he should explain to Lee what Twisted was really up to. He was far too angry to think straight and only wanted to confront Twisted head on. However he didn't take into account that Twisted had left no scent behind to follow, so Kiba was sending himself on a wild goose chase. Lee didn't question Kiba's actions. He had known that by telling him the truth that he might react that way. He decided to just let Kiba and Twisted settle things themselves and went to finish what he had started.

Lee went from place to place through out the village, continuing to tell the various kunoichi he came across about Naruto. Many of them took the responsible mode of action and went to see the Hokage. A few of them opted to go and find Naruto to settle things for themselves and the remaining ones didn't really believe him. He finally finished, heading back to Naruto's. He knew he needed to wait for some kind of signal from Twisted before he could do anything else so he guessed he might as well wait there.

As he walked he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. A piece of paper, folded into quarters just seemed to materialize out of a shadow on the ground. Knowing that Twisted was somehow capable of melting into the shadows, Lee went over and picked up the paper. As he thought, it had been left there by Twisted. Written on it was Naruto's current location and instructions to place the paper back where he found it. Lee did so, watching the paper immediately vanish the second he placed it back on the shadow on the ground. He stared at the spot for a moment, wondering how something like that could happen when he remembered he had to get going. Setting off again, he left for the training grounds.

On his way there he actually bumped into Naruto, who was just returning from training by himself since the early hours of the morning. Lee stopped in his tracks and waved at him.

"Naruto! There you are. I have been looking all over for you!"

"Hey bushy brows, what's going on?"

Lee walked up to him, looking vey serious. "I am not sure if you heard but someone went around the entire village and stole underwear from almost ever kunoichi. Rumor is that you are the one responsible my friend."

"What!? I didn't do that! I don't even know all the kunoichi in the village!"

"Do not worry, I believe you. That is why I came to find you, so could tell you what is going on. You might want to hurry home and remain there until this mess is cleared up. Something tells me that if you are out walking the streets you may run into trouble."

An image flashed in Naruto's mind of him being assaulted by angry women on his next trip to Ichiraku's. He felt a chill run down his spine, "Yeah I think that's a good idea. Thanks for telling me, I'm gonna go straight home. Thanks!"

The boy took off, going as fast as his legs could carry him. Lee, now with his task finally complete returned from the way he came. He walked around for a short while, unsure of what to do. He turned a corner and saw his teammates, along with Ino and Sakura a short distance away. Smiling, Lee headed in their direction. As he got closer he heard them talking. It seemed that Ino was angry with Tenten, and Sakura was trying to get the blonde to listen to reason.

"Ino, I know you aren't happy about what happened, but Tenten can't be the one you want. Hers were stolen too."

Ino scoffed, "Yeah right! I bet she just made that up! After yesterday I wouldn't trust her as far as I can throw her!"

Tenten stood in front of the blonde, locking eyes with her. "Let me make one thing clear Ino-chan! I wouldn't lower myself to stealing someone else's underwear. Especially not yours…" She leaned closer, whispering into the girl's ear. "…because I'd much rather just take off the pair you're wearing right now."

Ino's entire face flushed red and her eyes widened in shock. She tried to say something in reply, but could not bring herself to speak. Tenten smirked and caressed Ino's cheek, "Aww. You're so cute when you blush Ino-chan."

Ino's brain quickly registered what the other girl was doing and smacked her hand away. "Don't touch me! Didn't you do enough of that yesterday you pervert!?"

Tenten glared at the girl, "I didn't do anything! All I did was hold you in my arms and that's it! I didn't grope or even touch you inappropriately in any way!"

Wanting to help his teammate, Lee stepped between the two arguing girls, having reached them. "That is enough! Ino, I know for a fact that Tenten is innocent!"

Both girls stopped glaring at each other and turned to look at him, Tenten raising an eyebrow. "You do?"

Lee nodded, "Yes, you see this is all part of Twisted's plan."

Neji had been trying to ignore the argument between the two girls, but his interest was piqued when he heard what Lee had just said. "Twisted? You mean that you were helping him today?"

"Yes, in fact I just finished what he asked of me."

Neji sighed, somewhat frustrated, "I was afraid of that. Lee, Twisted is the one who was responsible for what Naruto did to Hinata."

"What!?" Lee clenched his fists, "I should have known! I knew there was something about him that I did not like!"

While Lee mentally kicked himself, Tenten was putting two and two together. "So if you were helping Twisted today then…you were the one who stole my underwear!?"

All three girls glared at Lee, who nearly panicked but remembered he had nothing to worry about. "Actually I refused to do that part so Twisted did it instead. However I did steal these back from him."

Lee pulled out Tenten's underwear from his ninja tools pouch and handed them to her. Tenten blushed; not believing that her teammate was holding her unmentionables out in public like it was no big deal. She snatched them back from him, "Give me those! Wait, how did you know they were mine?"

"Twisted was holding them back in Naruto's apartment. He made a comment on how he didn't think you would wear such things. I disagree by the way; I think that they suit you perfectly, especially since they are such a youthful shade of pink!"

Neji pinched the bridge of his nose, "You didn't just say that."

Tenten punched Lee in the head, knocking him back and onto the ground. She left in a huff, the other two girls heading off as well. Neji helped Lee to his feet and began to tell him everything that they knew about Twisted.

Meanwhile, Naruto wasn't faring to well. He had the misfortune of being caught by Anko on his way home. He managed to escape, only for the woman to come after him along with Kurenai, Hana and Tsume Inuzuka, Shizune and a few other kunoichi. He managed to give them the slip and get back into the safety of his home. However he knew that they would eventually look for him there and tried to think of an exit strategy. Sadly all he came up with was barricading the door. He ran over to his couch and started to push it towards his front door.

Over in his bedroom, Twisted watched on with amusement. He waited until Naruto had pushed the couch almost all the way in front of the door and then made his move. With a quick hand sign Twisted transformed into Sakura, grinning wickedly.

"And now for the finishing touch."

Twisted went over to Naruto and helped him finish pushing the couch in front of the door. Naruto heaved a sigh of relief and smiled at _Sakura_.

"Thanks Sakura-chan…Sakura-chan!?"

_Sakura_ smiled sweetly and then grabbed him. "What's all this about you stealing other women's underwear Naruto-_kun_?"

Before he could answer, _Sakura_ threw him clear across the room and into his bedroom. He landed on bed, amongst the stolen underwear. _Sakura _came in and pinned him to his bed with one hand.

"What is my underwear not good enough for you!? You have to go and steal from all the kunoichi in the village to satisfy your sick little mind!? Fine!! You can have your harem!! You can have their stinkin underwear!! But you can't have me!! We are _through_!!"

While _Sakura_ was yelling at him, _she_ was taking each pair of panties and stuffing them somewhere on his person (his pockets, shirt, tool pouch, headband etc). Once each and every pair was put someplace on Naruto, _Sakura_ picked him up and threw him out the window. Thanks to all his training the fall wasn't so bad, but when he landed, he found himself at the mercy of the same group of kunoichi that he was running from earlier. Back up in Naruto's apartment, Twisted released the transformation and watched the scene below. He _almost_ felt bad for the kid.

TBC

Credit for this chapter goes partially to my brother who came up with the original storyline for it. Basically he thought that Lee should do the panty raiding, but like I mentioned before the chapter stared, that seemed OOC. So instead I had him refuse to do it, leaving Twisted to do the dirty work.


	7. Chapter 7

Once again I return with the newest chapter to my story. Now that all the others have done their part, it is finally time to let Shino make an appearance. I had thought of having his done as one of the first chapters, but as I developed the plot some more I changed my mind. Let me know what you think.

Chapter 7)

Neji, Sakura, Kiba, and Tenten all sat in Tenten's living room. They were having a meeting of sorts and Tenten had offered the use of her house since her parents were out for the day. Ino and Lee had been invited as well but she didn't want to set foot in the brunette's house and he was forcing himself to do double his normal training as a form of self punishment for helping Twisted. So it was just the four of them, sitting in Tenten's living room, talking about what to do about Twisted.

Neji currently had the floor. "Tsunade-sama has most likely been keeping an eye on him like she said she would. However we don't know whether anyone other than her and ourselves knows about Twisted. So the question is should we speak with our senseis about what's going on?"

They all thought in silence for a moment, Sakura being the first to speak up. "I think that telling them would be a good idea, but if Tsunade-sama has been keeping an eye on Twisted then some of them might already know."

Kiba nodded, "She's right. For all we know Twisted probably has Anbu black ops spying on him. But what about Naruto and Shino? Shouldn't we tell them too?"

Neji shook his head, "No. If Naruto knew what was going on, he'd most likely run off to find Twisted and confront him. We've all seen that odd jutsu of his; he could escape easily if he knew anyone was on to him. As for Shino, we should tell him but I highly doubt that we need to worry. Knowing him he'll probably want nothing to do with Twisted's ridiculous nonsense."

----------

"I want nothing to do with your ridiculous nonsense."

Shino Aburame turned to leave, Twisted quickly blocking him. "What are you talking about?"

"When you originally came to me you said you wanted to teach Naruto a lesson for what he did to Hinata. What you just asked me to do for you is nothing more than a waste of time and effort. Naruto would learn nothing from it. All you're doing is sinking down to his level with your pathetic attempts. I've seen what you've had Naruto experience so far and I refuse to be a part of it."

Shino walked around Twisted and continued to leave. He had been walking in the forest to observe the various insects that inhabited it when Twisted had found him. Shino had listened for all of two seconds to his plan and quickly disregarded it. Twisted watched as the boy left, an idea hatching in his mind on how to convince Shino to help him.

"Well if you really don't want to help me I suppose I can't stop you. It's just that I thought you'd want to help since Hinata is your teammate after all. But I guess you don't care about her."

Shino stopped. "That isn't true. I do care for her. She's my friend."

"So why don't you want to help me get Naruto back for what he did? Did you even see how badly Hinata was hurt by everything he did?" Twisted went over to the boy, pulling three photos out from his cloak. "Here, look at these."

Shino took the photos, looking at them. Each of them was of Hinata, showing her during different times when Naruto had been picking on her. The first one was of Hinata being scolded by her father after he thought she had gotten pregnant. The second one showed a girl throwing a rock at Hinata when rumors had started to spread about her liking other girls. The last one was the one that caught Shino's attention the most. It showed Hinata, running away from naruto and clearly crying very hard. Twisted noticed how much the boy was looking at that one and used it to his advantage.

"Ah yes, that was when Naruto pushed too far and finally broke poor Hinata's heart. Stealing her diary and reading it was the final straw. To think she was able to put up with him even after he spread those pictures of her all over the village, impersonated her and even tricking people into thinking she was pregnant with his child. Did you know that Hinata was confined to her room after that little mishap? Her own father wouldn't believe her and maybe even disowned her."

"Alright I get it already. What was it you wanted me to do again?"

Twisted went over his plans with the boy again. Shino asked no further questions and left to get started. Twisted left as well, he had to pay a visit to someone.

----------

Naruto rolled over in his bed, still asleep despite the fact it was almost noon. After his misfortune yesterday he hadn't been able to fall asleep until after midnight. Now something was disturbing him in his slumbering state. It felt like his sheets had just moved on their own. Only being half awake when he noticed this he ignored it, thinking it was just his imagination and went back to sleep.

A moment later he felt it again, only this time it was more intense. He felt a tingling sensation as something ran up his shirt sleeve. Several more similar sensations occurred as he felt several tiny little things crawling over him. Unable to ignore it any longer Naruto opened his eyes. Sitting up he threw of his bedsheets…and screamed. He was covered in cockroaches. They were crawling all over his bed and many were currently in his pajamas.

Naruto reacted just as one could expect a person to react in his current situation. He screamed again, rolling off his bed and swatting the roaches off of him. He hastily took off his pajamas, shaking the articles of clothing out to get rid of the bugs inside of them. Thankfully none had ventured into his boxers so he kept those on. Naruto took a minute to regain his composure. Waking up covered in cockroaches was seriously unsettling for the nerves. Taking a couple of deep breathes he calmed himself down and looked over at his bed. The roaches were still crawling all over it, tons of them. Naruto knew that he had roaches in his apartment, but he had no idea how many there actually was. And he sure knew that the roaches had _never_ all crawled on him in his sleep at once before. He was used to, on rare occasions, finding one in his mattress or pillow but never so many of them swarming his entire bed like that. He'd have to have something done about them, but first he needed to eat something. The scare he had gotten had really whetted his appetite.

Ignoring the roaches he got dressed, went into his kitchen and opened the cupboard he kept all of his instant ramen in. The second the cupboard door opened more roaches crawled out of it. Naruto pulled his hand back and watched the little creatures swarm out of the cupboard. Once they were all gone he looked inside and saw, to his horror, that every single package and cup of instant ramen in there had been torn open and partially eaten by the bugs. Naruto gawked at the remains of what had originally been his food supply. He closed the cupboard and went to the fridge. When he opened the door he was met again with the sight of roaches and partially eaten food. The little monsters had even managed to rip open his milk carton, the milk dripping out of it and collecting on the shelf. Naruto groaned in frustration and slammed the door shut. Now not only did he have no food, but he had to clean up this mess as well.

Between ten and fifteen minutes later he had thrown out all of the ruined food and cleaned his fridge. The roaches were still crawling around freely throughout his apartment, as though they were trying to mock him with their mere presence. Naruto made a mental note to definitely do something about them. In the meantime he needed to go out for food.

Hurrying out the door he made his way to Ichiraku's. At least there he wouldn't have to worry about roaches ruining his food. While he walked a wasp appeared and flew around him. Naruto swatted at the flying insect, trying to make it go away. It returned a second later, flying up to his face and hovering there. Naruto swatted at it again, only this time it didn't back off. It nimbly avoided the boy's hand with each swing it made, remaining close to Naruto's face. It landed on Naruto's nose, the blonde boy slowly raising his hand and then trying to swat the bug again. The wasp flew away just in time, leaving Naruto to smack himself in the face.

Naruto was starting to become severely agitated. He swung both of his arms wildly, trying to hit the bug. It kept dodging, but didn't move away from him. Finally, Naruto managed to get it, knocking it to the ground. The fallen insect struggled to get up, but was clearly hurt too much to do so. Naruto smiled down at it, raising his foot so he could stomp it and kill it.

A loud buzzing noise caught his attention. It was coming from behind him so he turned to look over his shoulder. There he saw an entire swarm of wasps, hovering above him. Naruto stood staring at the swarm in disbelief for a moment and then he remembered how to use his legs and ran away screaming. The swarm flew after him, hot on his tail. No matter how fast he ran or where he ran to, the wasps were still behind him. He didn't turn to look, he could hear them buzzing as they flew after him. His legs were starting to ache, but he didn't slow down. Adrenalin flowed through his body as he caught his second wind and kept running. He didn't know how long he was running for but at some point he ran out of the village gates, still being pursued by the swarm. Seeing a river nearby he was struck with an idea. He ran over to the river and dove in, letting the current help move him downstream. Naruto swam as far as he could underwater, using the flow of the river to push him along, until he had to go up for air. Thinking he had lost the swarm by now he broke through the surface of the water and inhaled deeply. He climbed out of the river and collapsed on its bank.

A couple minutes passed and Naruto just lay there, catching his breath. All the running followed by his sudden swim had really taken it out of him. He sat up, having caught his breath and smirked to himself in triumph. It was short lived as his ears picked up the sound of buzzing once again. The swarm of wasps had somehow followed him and found him again. Forgetting about his fatigue and sore muscles, Naruto got up and ran again.

"Why is this happening to me!?"

The only answer he received was the sound of the swarm closing in on him; he could feel some of them getting into his hair. Naruto clawed at his head, trying to get them out. While he did this he wasn't watching where he was going and crashed into a tree. The good news, it got the wasps out of his hair. The bad news, the tree had a hornet's nest that he knocked loose when he crashed into it. The nest fell to the ground, breaking on impact. The entire colony poured out of the remains of their destroyed home and in seconds Naruto was covered with them.

----------

A little over an hour later, Naruto left the hospital. He had bandages on his hands and face, thankfully the stings he received on the rest of his body weren't as bad. His clothes had helped to cushion them so they were minor at best. What's more it seemed that only the hornets had stung him, not a single wasp. Naruto just guessed that they all took off to avoid the hornets. He'd seen colonies of ants fight each other, maybe different colonies (or species in this case) of bees did the same.

Naruto walked down to his team's training grounds. He had been told to get some rest after what happened, but being Naruto he didn't listen. Arriving at the training grounds he sat in a meditative pose. He had been told time and time again that he needed to work on his chakra concentration so he decided to do that. He closed his eyes, trying to focus. Focusing always seemed to be the hardest part of doing this. He couldn't help it, stuff just kept distracting him. Like right now he felt something crawl onto his leg. It was probably just a spider or something. He brushed it off, only for it to crawl back on his leg. He pushed it away again and it came back, trying to get Naruto's finger with one of its claws.

Wait…spiders didn't have claws. Naruto opened his eyes and looked at the little creature on his leg. It looked like a spider except it had two extra legs in front with claws and a tail ending in a curved stinger.

_'Weird, I didn't know there were scorpions around here…Scorpions!?'_

Naruto stood, knocking the scorpion off him and onto the ground. He backed away from it. The scorpion didn't move at all, but what did happen was more of them crawled out of the surrounding foliage to join it. Naruto groaned as he felt a weird déjà vu.

"Why me!?"

He looked up to the sky as though he would receive an answer for his question. Something fell from a tree branch above him and landed on his face, it was another scorpion. He let out a scream and smacked it off. The scorpion fell to the ground, landing on its back. The little creature struggled back onto its legs and joined the rest of its kind as they advanced on Naruto.

While Naruto dealt with the oncoming arthropods, not to far off Sakura Haruno was heading in his direction. She had been at the hospital when she heard about Naruto having been treated for numerous stings from hornets. She didn't know why but she had an odd feeling about that, call it her woman's intuition. So she made up an excuse to leave for a little while and set off to find her teammate. She knew that he'd probably be ignoring doctor's orders and go out to train. She was pleased to see she was right. But she wasn't pleased to see what else was with him.

Sakura started to look around, hoping that her hunch was right. A wave of relief washed over her when she saw Shino standing on a tree branch not too far from where Naruto was. She rushed over to the boy.

"Shino! If you're doing this please stop!"

Over where Naruto was the scorpions halted their advancement. Naruto stared at them all, remaining perfectly still. Sakura breathed a sigh of relief, "Thanks Shino."

"Why did you want me to stop? I was busy."

"Shino, Twisted is just using you. He's the one who made Naruto do everything he did to Hinata. I don't know why he did it, but he is the one responsible."

Shino stared off in to space, deep in thought. "How long have you known this?"

"For a few days now. Neji was the one who figured it out and we told Tsunade-sama. She's apparently keeping an eye on Twisted."

Shino said nothing; he just kept glaring at the empty space in front of him. Sakura could tell he wasn't happy with this and could sympathize. She had felt the same way when Neji and Tenten had told her the other day.

"Shino, it's okay. You didn't know."

"Why wasn't I told sooner?"

Sakura hesitated, "Well Neji didn't think it was necessary. He thought that you wouldn't do whatever Twisted asked you to do anyways."

"Then it looks like he and I were both wrong in that matter." He raised his arms, hands outstretched and palms facing downwards. All of the scorpions over where Naruto was retreated back into the foliage. Moment's later they had all crawled over to Shino. Each of them was enveloped in a puff of smoke and returned to their true forms as Shino's parasitic beetles. They swarmed their host, returning to the familiar surroundings of his body.

Sakura looked on the scene in awe, "You can make your beetles use the transformation jutsu?"

Shino nodded, "It isn't something my clan uses that often, but it is possible. After all they do eat my charka. Now, what about Naruto? Does he know anything?"

Sakura shook her head, "Neji felt it would be best to keep him in the dark. You know how Naruto can be."

"Good point. Where's Neji? I want to speak with him."

Sakura led Shino back to the village. Back over in team 7's training grounds Naruto looked around to make sure the scorpions were gone. Not wanting to take any chances he high tailed it out of there. He planned on going back home and staying there after the insanity he dealt with today. He'd take the roaches over scorpions and bees any day.

---------

Meanwhile Twisted was currently sitting in an armchair. He was inside an apartment, having snuck inside while there was no one at home. He kept the lights off and just sat in the dark, thinking over his next move.

He heard the sound of the front door opening. A woman entered the apartment and walked past the living room where Twisted was sitting. He reached out and turned on a lamp on a table next to him. It wasn't that dark in the apartment, he just did it to catch her attention. He did blend into the shadows after all.

The woman immediately noticed him. He gave a small nod to acknowledge her, "Kurenai Yuhi, so very nice to finally meet you."

Kurenai pulled out a kunai and took a defensive stance as she eyed the man intruding her home. Twisted held up his hands, gesturing that he meant no harm to her in any way.

"Now is that any way to greet a guest?"

"A guest doesn't just let themselves into someone's house when they aren't home!"

"Ah, touché. But I assure you that despite sneaking into your apartment I mean you no ill will. I'm here to discuss a rather important matter with you. How would you like to teach that Naruto brat a lesson for what he did to your student?"

Kurenai's eyes narrowed, "How is that any of your concern?"

"I have my reasons. But you don't have to do it. It's just that I thought that since you're Hinata's sensei and was asked personally by her father to watch over her that you might want to do it."

"How do you know all of this? Who are you?"

"I'm sorry, where are my manners? Allow me to introduce myself. I am Twisted, at least that is that what you may call me. Everyone else I know does. As for how I know what I know, well let's just say I excel at reconnaissance."

Kurenai lowered her kunai, but still remained wary of the man. "And why is it you want to teach Naruto a lesson?"

"Do you honestly need me to answer that? You know better than I do why the boy needs to be taught a lesson. After everything he did to Hinata, you must feel that way."

Kurenai hesitated, "Well…"

"Good, I'm glad you think so. Because I for one think that he didn't receive enough punishment for what he did. Seriously, the worst he got was doing a bunch of d-rank missions and a few scoldings. Now does that sound like an appropriate punishment for what he's done?"

"Well, not really."

"Then you'll help? Good. I assure you that this is all for the boy's own good. With any luck it'll knock some sense into that thick skull of his and he can patch things up with Hinata. Now if you'll excuse me I need to take my leave. Farewell."

Twisted shut the light and started to melt into the shadows. Kurenai watched him for a second in awe and then suddenly thought of something.

"Wait! What exactly is it that you want me to do?"

"You're skilled with genjutsu are you not? Try using that seeing as Naruto has trouble with that area. And if you like I'll throw in a little tip. Did you know that Naruto is afraid of ghosts?"

Twisted vanished into the shadows, leaving Kurenai to stare at the spot he had once stood. After a moment her thoughts turned to what the man had asked of her.

TBC

So, left you with a bit of a cliffhanger there. Wanted to build up a little interest now that I've finished with the characters I started with. Yes, Kurenai will be having a turn as well and I have something planned for the last two chapters as well. Reviews are appreciated.


	8. Chapter 8

Wow, I really flew through those last two chapters didn't I? Guess it can't be helped, they've just been so much fun to write. I especially enjoyed writing this one. Sorry this one took so long to finish, I've been really busy lately. Hope you like.

Chapter 8)

Naruto rolled over in his bed. He had been surprised to find that the numerous cockroaches that had plagued his apartment were all suddenly gone when he had gotten back. Unable to take any more craziness he just forgot about it and laid around the rest of the day until he finally went to sleep. He rolled over again, unable to stay in a state of blissful slumber. His bed just didn't feel right for some reason and it was starting to get cold, which was odd because he had gone to bed in the same clothing he had worn the previous day and had wrapped himself up snuggly in his comforter. As he got colder he was unable to remain asleep and woke up.

Naruto sat up, clutching his comforter tightly around his body. He could see his own breath as he exhaled. Shuddering from the low temperature he tried to figure out what was going on. A quick look around was all he needed to realize something very important. He wasn't in his room, or even his apartment for that matter. For starters the room he was in was at least as big as his apartment, not to mention better looking. The whole room was filled with antique furniture and had fine art hanging from the walls. It was dark in the room also, making it a bit unsettling for Naruto. He had the strangest feeling that he was being watched.

Getting up, Naruto looked around the room some more. There weren't any windows and only one door. Obviously not having any other choice, Naruto made way for the door. He hadn't even taken three steps when he heard the sound of something scrapping across the wooden floor. Stopping, he turned to look back and saw that everything looked the same aside from one thing. An old wooden trunk, covered in dust and cobwebs accumulated from countless years, seemed to have been moved from its former place on the far side of the room. It was only by a few inches, but it definitely looked like it had been moved.

Naruto shook his head, clearing it of his current train of thoughts. That was just ridiculous; he was the only person in the room and that old trunk hadn't just moved all by itself. It was obviously like that before and he just hadn't noticed it, and the sound he had heard was just a figment of his imagination.

Now having convinced himself that nothing weird was going on, he made his way for the door again. The scrapping sound he had heard before was back, only louder this time. Naruto stopped again and looked behind him. This time the trunk had moved nearly halfway between the other side of the room and where he was currently standing. There was no way Naruto could explain it this time. He slowly went up to it, curiosity getting the better of him. There seemed to be a weird sound coming from inside the trunk itself, as thought there was something alive trapped inside of it.

Naruto knelt down and pressed his ear to the trunk, yup there was definitely something inside of it. Pulling back, Naruto looked over the trunk in general. Like nearly everything else in the room it was an antique, and was shut by an old, rusty padlock. And if there was a lock then there had to be a key. The question was where. Taking another quick look around the room he saw a key lying on an old table sitting in the corner of the room. Naruto retrieved it and returned to the trunk. He inserted the key into the lock and turned it. The sound of the tumblers shifting inside the lock could be heard as the lock came off. Naruto went to open the trunk, but hesitated. He couldn't say why, but something in the back of his mind was telling him that what he was doing was a _very_ bad idea.

Ignoring his common sense, Naruto flung open the lid of the trunk. He regretted it instantly. Numerous arms, all of which were pale and transparent, shot out of the trunk and grabbed him. An unearthly series of moans came out of the trunk as the phantom limbs tried to pull Naruto into the trunk to join them. Naruto screamed, struggled and screamed some more. The fight he put up only seemed to make it worse; the arms pulled him harder, practically making him topple into the trunk. Naruto used all his strength and managed to break free, the limbs still reaching for him. Still trying to grab him and pull him to his doom.

Naruto ran out of the room and down the hall. He kept running and running, the hallway not seeming to end. There weren't any turns or anything, just a long hallway that went on and on and on. After a few minutes of running, Naruto slowed down and had to take a minute to catch his breath. He looked around and saw that the hallway was indeed endless. The direction he was going didn't have an end in sight, no turns or walls. There was only doors on either side of the hallway every once in a while. The way he came obviously wasn't any better, especially if it meant going back near the room with that creepy trunk full of ghost arms. That left Naruto with one option: pick a door and hope it led to a way out of this place.

Not feeling as though it made a difference, Naruto went up to the nearest door and opened it. Inside he saw a large room with antique furniture and fine art hanging on the walls. There weren't any windows or another door, but there was an old trunk in the middle of the room with countless arms reaching out of it…

Naruto slammed the door shut and stumbled back a bit. That was the exact same room he had woken up in! But that didn't make any sense, he had run in a straight line and there was no way he went in a circle. Making sure that he wasn't hallucinating he went back to the door and opened it enough to peek inside. He shut it again immediately; this was definitely the room he had just been in.

Normally the logical thing to do would be to try not to panic. But considering the situation, Naruto felt he had every right to panic and exercised that right fully. He ran back down the hall, in the direction he had come from. After another few minutes of running he stopped and tried opening a door again.

Thankfully this time he was met with a different sight. This room was notably smaller than the last one and lacked the trunk of arms. It also had old and dusty furniture but in addition had some windows and a fireplace. Although the windows were boarded up and the fireplace was devoid of a fire of any kind. But there was one thing that stood out from the other room more than anything else. There was a person in this one.

The person appeared to be an old woman, and she was sitting in a rocking chair near the fireplace. She was rocking the chair back and forth; the sound of it creaking filled the room. Naruto wasn't able to see her face since she was facing away from him. Praying to himself that this woman could help him he went over to ask. As he got closer to her he started to get a bad feeling. After his experience with the old trunk he knew that this place must be haunted and thought that there was probably something in this very room. Nevertheless he kept going and reached the old lady.

"Hey, sorry if I'm bothering you, but could you maybe help me out? I'm kinda lost."

The old woman didn't answer. She only kept rocking back and forth in her chair. Maybe she hadn't heard him. He took a breath, repeating himself only louder this time.

"I said, sorry but can you help me out, I'm sort of lost!!"

Once again he received no answer from her. It was beginning to get irritating. He was about to shout when it occurred to him that the woman might have been deaf. That would make sense right? Plus it didn't help that he wasn't in front of her. For all he knew she was probably fast asleep. If that was the case then he was going to wake her up. He wasn't going to just leave a defenseless old woman in this crazy haunted mansion.

Going around the chair he stood in front of her. The sight he was met with was not pretty. The woman was dead, nothing but bones. It was just a skeleton rocking back and forth in the chair where the woman had died. Wait…if the woman was dead, then why was the chair rocking? The bad feeling he had suddenly grew and then shot off the charts. The skeleton sat bolt upright, grabbing him by his coat with a bony, fleshless hand. The empty eye sockets glared at him, their piercing gaze chilling his very soul.

Naruto wanted to scream but it died in his throat because he was so frightened. He turned and ran out of the room, not caring where he went as long as it got him away from there. As he ran back down the endless hallway he made a rather interesting discovery. It wasn't endless, he could see a doorway ahead of him and ran faster, heading for it. When he reached the door he flung it open, ran through the doorway and slammed the door behind him.

He could feel his heart racing, the adrenaline still pumping through his body. He pressed back against the door and sank down to the floor. He felt something tugging on his coat and looked down to see the skeleton hand still clinging to him. When he had ran off it had been torn from the rest of the skeleton. Naruto cried out in fear, prying the bones off of him. Opening the door he flung it back out into the hallway and shut the door again.

Once he calmed back down he took a look around the room, checking for weird trunks or skeletons. Thankfully neither was in there. In fact the room was pretty much empty aside from a couple of old cushions on the floor and a rusty suit of samurai armor. The armor looked ancient and had an old spear gripped in one of its gauntlets. Deciding not to go back the way he came, Naruto looked to see if there was another exit. He found one, across the room and behind the suit of armor. Running over he went to push the armor out of the way, not caring if he knocked it over. He received a surprise when the armor pushed him back.

Naruto got that bad feeling again, "Oh come on, you can't be serious!"

Unfortunately his protest did not change the fact that the armor was turning to face him, wielding its spear and ready to strike. The armor stabbed at Naruto, the boy dodging and running away. It looked like he would have to head out the door he came in after all, his fear making him forget why he didn't want to go that way in the first place. Of course when he opened the door he remembered why. The skeleton's hand was still there waiting for him. The second the door opened it leapt up and latched on to his face. Naruto screamed, ripped the hand off and ran for his life.

The hallway became seemingly endless again, Naruto eventually tiring out and having to slow to a stop. The armor wasn't behind him, he had been so afraid that he hadn't noticed that it hadn't even left the room to come after him. Instead it had just shut the door behind him and returned to its proper place.

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief, glad to be away from the armor. But now he still needed to find a way out of this place. And judging by how long this freaky hallway was he guessed that the whole place must be enormous. In other words, the odds of him escaping were pretty slim. He knew that he didn't want to try any more of the doors. So far that had been nothing but trouble. Who knows what he would find if he tried that again.

A shiver ran down Naruto's spine as he imagined opening one of the doors in the hallway to find an army of malevolent spirits waiting for him. No way in hell was he going to risk that. He'd just have to keep going down the hall until he reached the other end. After all it wasn't like it could keep going on and on. That would just be impossible.

Getting up he resumed going down the hall when he heard a scuttling noise coming from behind him. He turned and saw the skeleton hand running along the floor on the tips of its fingers. Naruto tried not to panic; it was just a hand after all. A very creepy skeleton hand that, by all logical means, shouldn't be moving at all.

Naruto took a step back, raising one foot to step on the thing if it got any closer. "Stay away from me!!"

The hand went around him, continuing its trek down the hall. It stopped not long after passing him and set it self upright and crooked its pointer finger in a 'come hither' gesture. Naruto stared blankly at it, completely thrown off by what he was seeing. A moment ago the nasty little thing had latched to his face when he had been trying to run away from that armor. He honestly didn't know what to do. It wasn't like he was just going to just suddenly trust that the hand actually wanted to help him, but then again it might be his only chance to get out of this madhouse.

The hand was back down again, drumming its fingers impatiently. Naruto glared at it, "What? You think I'm really going to just follow you?"

The hand turned and continued to make its way down the hall. Looked like it did want him to follow it. Naruto sighed, knowing in his gut that this wasn't going to end well and reluctantly followed the hand.

It led him down the hall and stopped in front of one of the doors. Naruto guessed what it wanted him to do and opened the door. Inside was another hallway; Naruto stared in disbelief at it. Who the hell designed this place!? The hand scuttled down the hall with Naruto close behind. Unlike the other hall, this one wasn't ridiculously long and ended with and entryway into what looked like a kitchen. A familiar scent wafted through the air and taunted Naruto's nostrils. He felt himself starting to drool and walked faster, passing the hand and entering the kitchen.

The room was pretty big, filled with several cabinets and an old wood burning stove. Sitting on an ancient looking table was the source of the smell that had attracted Naruto. It was a bowl of steaming hot ramen. Not caring why it was there Naruto went up to it, leaning down to savor its delicious odor.

Big mistake. Much like everything else he had encountered so far the ramen bore him ill will. The noodles shot out from the bowl and wrapped around his neck, tightening to the point where he couldn't breathe. Grabbing onto them he ripped the noodles from his neck with ease (they're noodles after all) and knocked the bowl to the floor. It shattered, hot broth spilling everywhere and the noodles lying in a pile. They came to life once more and squirmed across the floor, leaving the room. Naruto watched in silent awe, still absorbing the fact that his favorite food had just tried to kill him. He silently wondered if he could ever look at ramen the same way again.

Naruto's attention was caught by an odd sound. Like bone clinking against bone. He turned to see the skeleton hand, snapping its fingers. It pointed to a door in the room, clearly wanting him to open it. Naruto did so, finding an old staircase descending into what he guessed must be the basement. He took one look at it and turned to the hand.

"You want me to go down there!? Forget it!"

The hand didn't give him much choice. It leapt into the air, grabbed him by the collar and flung him through the doorway. Naruto tumbled down the stairs and landed with a thud at the bottom. As he got back up he saw the door at the top of the stairs close and ran to it. The wooden stairs creaked beneath his weight and the staircase collapsed.

Once again on the ground, Naruto groaned and got back to his feet. With the door shut it was pitch dark in the basement. He couldn't see a thing and began to stumble around, trying to find his way out. There had to be an exit. Another staircase, a door, something that would get him out of here. While he searched he could hear something moving around in the dark. Several somethings in fact. He definitely wasn't alone. There was a putrid smell in the air, like something had died. Naruto ignored it and kept looking for a way out.

He heard the noise again, it was all around him. It sounded like small creatures running through the darkness around him. He heard other noises too, a sort of squeaking noise. Like the sound mice made. Naruto calmed down a bit, that's all he was hearing. Mice, it was just a lot of mice running around. Nothing to be scared of, lots of basements had the little rodents in them.

Naruto bumped into something cold and made of stone. He felt it with his hands, it was a wall. Good, maybe if he followed it he'd find a way out. Still using his hands to feel his way, Naruto walked along the wall until he came across a door. He smiled and went to open it…only to find it was locked. Letting out a groan of frustration he started to try and break it down. Putting all his weight into it, he rammed the door. It didn't give and he tried again. He kept going until finally he broke through it and onto the other side.

He found himself in another room, only this one wasn't as dark. There were small windows up near the ceiling of the basement. Moonlight filtered through them, making it easier for Naruto to see his new surroundings. The room wasn't very large and was pretty much empty aside from some old boxes along the wall. Across from him he saw another door at the top of a small staircase. It was a way out of this haunted hell house, it just had to be. Naruto started to walk over to it when he heard something scuttling into to the room behind him; one of the mice must've decided to follow him after he broke down the door.

Turning to look Naruto saw not a mouse, but a big ugly rat on the floor. It was a really filthy and diseased looking thing. Its fur was all matted and missing in some places, its tail was missing and it stunk like the dead. Naruto figured that this was what he had been smelling in the other room. There was something off about its eyes too; they were blank, grey and soulless. Naruto wonder if it had rabies or something and saw the little vermin run over to him. It looked like it was about to bite his foot when Naruto, on pure instinct, kicked it. The rat flew into the wall head first with a sickening crunch. When it fell to the floor Naruto saw that it's skull had been split open, exposing its tiny brain. He had to suppress a wave of nausea both from the sight and the smell, which had gotten worse. He knew dead things stunk but this was just grotesque.

But it wasn't the rat he just kicked that he was smelling. It was the other rats, the ones coming into the room, each just as gross and diseased looking. Unlike the first rat however, which had only been missing its tail, these ones were missing whole chunks of flesh, exposing muscle and bone. Some of them only had one eye dangling out of its socket, just as blank and soulless as the other. This is when Naruto realized that the rats weren't diseased. They were dead.

To add to this horror, the first rat had gotten back to its feet, glaring up at him with its one remaining eye, the other having fallen out. Suddenly they were on him, trying to bite him. Naruto screamed, knocking the undead rodents away and running for the door. They kept after him, the sound of them moving en masse driving a spike of fear into Naruto's heart. He got to the stairs and hastily ascended them, reaching to open the door. His heart surged with joy and relief when he found that it wasn't locked and ran out, slamming it behind him before it was too late.

Sinking to the ground, Naruto let out a laugh. He was alive for now and even better he had finally made it outside. His optimistic mood faded as he saw just where he was. A graveyard, the door had let him to a graveyard and a large one at that. Tombstones went on as far as he could see, all bathed in the moon's light.

This left Naruto with three options. First, he could go through the graveyard and see where that took him, an idea he really didn't like. His second option was to go around the mansion, which he liked even less since he wanted to put as much distance between himself and this place as possible. Finally he could go back into the mansion, an option that he didn't even want to consider. So he was left with either walking around the mansion or through the graveyard. He picked the graveyard.

Following the old dirt path that went through it, Naruto kept his eyes peeled for anything even remotely suspicious. He refused to fall victim to another attack by some undead monster. As he cautiously walked past the graves of lives long since past, he heard someone crying. It was faint, but it was definitely the sound of somebody crying softly. There was someone else here, out amongst the tombstones. At first he wanted to investigate but thought better of it. Every time he had tried to do anything in that haunted mansion, he was met with malevolent beings. He wasn't going to let it happen again.

Continuing his way, he began to rethink his decision. What if it really was just a person? Some poor, unfortunate fool who had woken up in this place, just like he had and was also lost. The sound had grown, and whoever it was sounded familiar. Deviating from the dirt path, Naruto walked out among the graves, toward the source of the crying. As he got closer he realized that it _did_ sound familiar, he knew who it was.

His eyes grew wide, "Hinata!"

Naruto broke into a run, desperately searching for the girl. He didn't a clue as to why she was here and he didn't care. She was here and that's all that mattered to him. Hinata had somehow ended up in this miserable place and she was crying. Naruto strained the muscles in his legs to make him run faster, to get him to her faster.

He found her near an ancient, gnarled and knotted tree. She was sitting on the ground, in front of a grave and hugging her knees to her chest. She wasn't in her usual attire, instead dressed in pale gray rags that looked like they didn't even fit her properly. Naruto slowly approached her, now hearing just how upset she really was. Hinata's head was resting in her arms as she sobbed uncontrollably.

Naruto felt a pang in his heart seeing her like this. He closed this distance between them, reaching out to put his hand on her shoulder.

"Hinata."

She jumped, startled by the sudden sound of his voice. Turning to look at him her eyes, still moist with tears, filled with distrust and contempt. She turned back to face the grave, hugging her knees to her chest again.

"What are you doing here?"

Naruto hesitated, slightly hurt by her cold response to his presence. "I don't know. I woke up here and was trying to find my way out when I heard you. Are you okay? What's wrong?"

"Why should I tell you? It isn't like you'd actually care."

"That isn't true! I do care!" He stepped closer and knelt down next to her. Whatever was wrong, it clearly had to do with whoever's grave this was. "Did you know this person?" He looked at the tombstone and read the name on it: _Hinata Hyuga_.

Naruto stared at it in disbelief. It couldn't be possible, Hinata was right next to him. Hinata knew what he was thinking and confirmed the truth.

"That's right, it's my grave. This is my final resting place."

"But you're not dead Hinata! Look at you, you're right here alive and well!"

She scoffed, "You'd think so wouldn't you? Sorry but your wrong. Look."

Hinata held out her arms, showing that her wrists had been slashed. Naruto stared at the wounds, still not believing any of it. He grabbed one of her hands, taking a closer look at the wrist.

"Who did this to you!? Don't worry Hinata I'll go and get…"

He trailed off, finally realizing the reality of what was going on. Hinata's flesh was ice cold and if had bothered to check he wouldn't have found her pulse. She pulled her arm back away from his reach.

"I did it to myself. I was just so miserable after what you did that I didn't want to live anymore. It's your fault, Naruto. You made me do this to myself."

Naruto got up, shaking his head. "No. I…I never wanted this to happen Hinata."

She stood as well, visibly angry, and started to yell. "Well it did! Did you actually think that I was just going to take all of your abuse over and over again? What did I ever do to make you hate me so much!?"

"I don't hate you! I'm sorry Hinata! Please believe me, I'm sorry!"

"Liar! Every time you said that to me you only went and hurt me all over again! At least now you can't hurt me anymore!"

Tears leaked out of Naruto's eyes as he fell to his knees. "No! I meant it all those times and I really mean it this time Hinata! I'm sorry I hurt you, I'm sorry I lied, I'm sorry I made you cry! I'm sorry!!!"

Hinata fell quiet, her head handing and her bangs covering her eyes. She clenched her fists, shaking. "No. You aren't sorry Naruto. Not yet at least."

Hinata's body began to change. She grew taller and more slender, her hair grew to just past shoulder length, and her eyes became a faded red. But the most notable change of all were her fingers. The nails had turned a dark blood red and had grown long and dagger-like (For those of you who play Left 4 Dead think of the witches).

Naruto got up just as Hinata let out a wretched cry and swung one arm, her blade-like fingers slicing across his stomach. The wound was only skin deep, but enough to draw blood. Panicking, Naruto ran back the way he came, tripping over a tree root and hitting his head when he fell.

----------

Naruto sat bolt upright in bed, sweat dripping down his face. Taking a few deep breathes he calmed down and noticed that he was back in his room. He managed to smile and sighed in relief, wiping the sweat from his brow.

"It was just a dream."

No sooner had those words left his mouth, than a pair of slender arms embraced him from behind. The arms had cut wrists and the fingers ended in long red, blade like nails. A cold lifeless breath hit the nape of his neck as Hinata leaned to whisper into his ear.

"Sorry Naruto-_**Kun**_. This isn't a dream. It's a nightmare!"

----------

Naruto sat bolt upright in bed, sweat dripping down his face. He got out of bed, looking around. He was in his room, again. Only this time he was alone. No armor, no skeleton hands, no rats and no Hinata. It really had been just a dream. A very, very bad dream. Sighing in relief Naruto went back to lie in bed. As he did he saw that his pajamas has four slash marks in them, exactly where the Hinata in his dream had cut him. Looking through the tears he could see four long red lines on his abdomen.

TBC.

Once again sorry for how long this chapter took. I really thought I'd have it done sooner, but I got slammed with assignments for school and am still working on them. Sorry to say it may take a while longer for the next chapter. Until then I hope this one was worth the wait.


	9. Chapter 9

Wow, after the last chapter this one seems just so…boring. Oh well, nothing I can do about it. Hopefully some of you won't mind. Sorry to have kept you waiting so long, but my computer crashed and I had to fix it.

Chapter 9)

Kurenai's eyes widened in disbelief. She was standing in Tsunade's office, having been called in for a special assignment. An assignment which had brought about a shocking truth for her. She was to help apprehend an intruder inside the village who had been up to no good. While his intentions were unclear at the time there was one thing that was certain. He was a potential threat to the village and his true identity was a complete mystery.

But that wasn't what had shocked Kurenai. It was what she had been told this man had been doing that was a surprise to her. A small part of her just couldn't accept what she had just been told.

"Are you certain Lady Tsunade?"

The Hokage nodded, "Yes, I've had Anbu Black Ops spying on him ever since this matter was brought to my attention. We now have more than enough proof that he is in fact behind Naruto's recent behavior towards Hinata."

Kurenai shook her head again, "But, but I just…

"Just finished speaking with him? I know, and I felt that this might come as a blow to you but it's the truth."

"If you knew then why didn't you stop me!? I feel awful now for what I did to Naruto. How could you just let me go and do what I did when you knew the truth!?"

"Calm down Kurenai, I understand what you're asking but the fact of the matter is that we only just learned of him recruiting you. The Black Ops have had a difficult time tracking him. He knows he's being tailed and I think that the only reason we know anything is because he _let_ them spy on him."

Kurenai looked confused, "Why would he do that? Why is he even doing any of this!?"

"As I told you before, Twisted's intentions are unclear. At first we believed that he had some sort of grudge against the Hyuga clan, which would explain what he did to Hinata. But that didn't answer why he was tormenting Naruto now. The only sure way to figure out what his master plan is, would be to capture and interrogate him."

"Then that's what I'm going to do. I'll make sure he's captured and that he pays for what he's done!"

"What exactly did he have you do to Naruto anyway Kurenai?"

Kurenai told Tsunade of everything that had occurred since she had encountered Twisted. She told about how she waited until Naruto was just about to go to bed and then hit him with a genjutsu. She even told what she did with the genjutsu and of how Naruto had reacted when she had finally let up. Remembering about how much she had enjoyed doing it made her feel as though her stomach was tying itself in a knot. Tsunade stayed silent for a minute, and then dismissed Kurenai.

Kurenai stopped at the door turning back to face Tsunade, "I'm sorry for letting myself be tricked into helping him. I'll make up for it by doing everything I can to ensure Twisted is found and captured."

"Don't blame yourself Kurenai, you didn't know the truth and I by all rights should have told you sooner. Good luck on your mission, I'll summon you when the time comes."

Thanking her, Kurenai left. Tsunade sighed and pulled out a bottle of sake, pouring herself some. "We're going to need it with the way that he's been slipping through our fingers. After all it isn't like he's just going to just willingly show himself to us now that he knows we're on to him."

"Oh I wouldn't be so sure of that Lady Tsunade."

Tsunade nearly choked on her sake at the sound of the voice. She turned to the corner where she saw Twisted standing. She had never seen him before, but he fit the descriptions she had been given perfectly. At least for someone who never showed his face. For countless seconds she gawked at him in disbelief. When she didn't say anything he chuckled.

"What's with the look? If I didn't know any better I'd say that you were afraid of me."

Tsunade smirked and stood up, "Hardly. I just found it hard to believe that you would be so stupid as to actually walk into my office."

"I suppose it would, if I wasn't so sure that there wasn't a thing you could do to stop me from just leaving as easily as I entered. So how about you just forget about whatever it is you're planning and just let me say what I came to say."

Tsunade scoffed, "If it has anything to do with your little project then count me out. I'll have no part in what you're doing to Naruto! Now I suggest you start running before the Anbu Black ops arrive!"

Twisted laughed, "They haven't caught me yet! For a group called Black ops they sure are obvious to notice when they're following you! As for what I came to say, yes it is what you think and if you know what's good for Naruto then you'll do as I ask."

Tsunade's eyes narrowed, glaring at him "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that I have something far worse in store for Naruto if you don't just do as I say. In case you haven't noticed I'm quite capable of making people suffer and I won't hesitate to take it up a notch if need be. Now I suggest you listen to what I'm about to ask of you or you can regret it later."

----------

Naruto walked down the street, still recovering from the uneasy night he'd endured. The poor fool had no idea that he hadn't actually gotten any sleep at all. That the nightmare was nothing more than a very in depth and detailed genjutsu cast on him by Kurenai. If he had then he'd be able to understand why he had those scratches on his stomach, the ones the nightmare Hinata had given him. But instead he was under the impression that it was some sort of omen.

He shook his head, banishing the unsettling thoughts. Thankfully he had just the remedy for his current state of mind: ramen and lots of it. He was on his way to his favorite place in the village. The Ichiraku ramen stand. He inhaled the savory aroma of delicious ramen. It was the one thing he knew would make him feel better. When he reached the stand he took a seat and smiled up at the owner.

"Hey old man! Two Miso ramen with extra barbecued pork!"

Teuchi looked at him for a second and then shook his head. Naruto blinked in confusion, had Teuchi just denied his order? He looked over at Ayame and saw a sympathetic look on her face. There was something up and Naruto had a feeling he wasn't going to like it.

"Hey what's going on?"

Teuchi didn't say anything; he only focused on his cooking. The man looked a bit angry for some reason. Ayame came out from inside the stand and took a seat next to Naruto.

"Naruto, I'm sorry but we can't serve you ramen anymore."

"_WHAT!?!_ You can't be serious! This is just a joke right? Please tell me it's a joke!"

"I'm sorry but it's not a joke Naruto. My father and I can't serve you ramen anymore. In fact you aren't even supposed to be allowed at the stand either."

Naruto stared at her in silence for a moment, "That…that's not fair! Why!? Was it something I did? Tell me!"

"No it isn't anything you did. It's just that…that…"

"It was an order from Lady-Tsunade."

Naruto turned to look at Teuchi when he had said that. "What!? Why did grandma Tsunade tell you that!?"

"She doesn't want you to be eating here every day for breakfast, lunch and dinner anymore. She said that you need to start eating a more balanced diet before you start to suffer from malnutrition."

"So I can't eat here ever again?"

Teuchi sighed, "Well I'm sure that you'll be allowed to eat here again. It's just that Tsunade wants you to kick the ramen-for-every-meal habit. I'm sure that if you do that you'll be allowed back here in no time. And I really hope that's the case, I don't like the idea of telling my best customer that he's not welcome at my stand anymore."

Naruto grumbled and got up to leave. Ayame apologized to him one more time and she watched him dejectedly walk away. As Naruto went along his way a thought crossed his mind. He was told he couldn't eat ramen at _Ichiraku's_ anymore. No one said anything about any other restaurant that sold ramen. Feeling his spirit rise with this new hope he changed his course for the next nearest place that had ramen on the menu.

He was met with rejection time and time again. Each time he went to a restaurant or stand that sold ramen he was denied. Tsunade had clearly thought ahead and made sure that he couldn't have ramen anywhere in the village. He was almost about to panic when he remembered that he had plenty of instant ramen at home. Naruto was about to make a beeline for his apartment when he also suddenly remembered how he had to throw away all of his ramen because of the cockroach incident. If he wanted instant ramen he'd have to buy some.

Unfortunately the story was the same at the stores. Naruto had gone and grabbed as much instant ramen as he could and went to pay for it. He was rejected and told the same story that he had heard from Teuchi.

Great, he couldn't even buy instant ramen now. The only way he'd be able to get any kind of ramen would be to go out of the village and find some other place to get it. Sadly that was something he just couldn't do every day, even if it meant he could keep eating ramen. Stealing it was out of the question as well, the last thing he needed was to get in more trouble. He still felt the burden from everything he'd done to Hinata and didn't want to add to it. That crazy dream, if it even was a dream, only made him regret everything he'd done even more.

There had to be a way for him to buy ramen again. Something clicked in Naruto's head. That was it! _He_ wasn't allowed to buy ramen anywhere in the village. But no one ever told him he wasn't allowed to have someone else buy it for him. It was definitely worth a try, and he knew just who to ask.

Naruto rushed over to the ninja academy, not bothering to think of what the time was. When he finally got there he caught on to his oversight. It was still morning and Iruka would be busy teaching classes. He'd have to wait until lunch before he could bother asking the chunin for anything.

The hours passed by painfully slow for Naruto as he waited for lunch break to begin at the academy. He knew that would be the best opportunity to make his move. Noon came and all the students were let out for a short period to eat and have recess. Naruto went in search of Iruka, finding the scarred man in his classroom going over some papers. He quickly took notice of his old student and waved.

"Naruto, what brings you here?"

"Oh, nothing. I was just wondering if you'd want to get some ramen with me. But it looks like you're busy right now. Hey I got an idea! I can stay here and keep an eye on your stuff and you can go get us some ramen! Here, I'll give you the money for mine and even pay for yours…"

Iruka smiled and shook his head, "Sorry Naruto but I know that you've been put on a 'no ramen diet' until further notice. I was told not to buy you any ramen and so was Kakashi. Don't try anyone else either, it won't work."

Naruto groaned, "Aw come on please!? Just one bowl?"

"I'm sorry Naruto but I agree with Lady Tsunade, you eat way too much ramen and should really kick that habit. It's for your own good."

Shoulders slumping, Naruto left. He couldn't buy ramen at a restaurant, he couldn't buy it at the store, and he couldn't have somebody else buy it for him either. What was he supposed to do make the ramen!?

Naruto's eyes lit up. Make his own ramen, why hadn't he thought of that sooner? He had done it before with Sakura and Choji to help out Teuchi that one time. If he could get either of them to help, he'd be eating ramen in no time! He'd have to ask for Choji's help though. Sakura had no doubt been told by Tsunade about what was going on. Plus since Choji loved food more than anyone else he knew, Naruto could trust him to help.

Oddly enough he had only just seen the boy at one of the many restaurants when he was on his earlier mission of buying ramen. Rushing back to the same restaurant he was lucky enough to catch Choji, along with Ino, Shikamaru and Asuma. It was a good thing Choji liked to eat otherwise they would've left a while ago. Naruto ran up to the four of them, waving at Choji.

"Hey Choji!"

The chubby genin turned to greet the blonde, "Hey Naruto, what's up?"

"Nothing, I was just wondering if you could help me out with something."

"I'm kinda busy right now. We were about to head out for training again."

"Please? There'll be some food in it for ya if you do!"

Choji's eyes lit up at the offer, despite the fact he had just eaten enough food to keep a normal man full for a week. "Count me in!"

They were about to set off but were stopped by Asuma, "Hold up Choji, don't you think you're forgetting something?"

"Aw, come on sensei. It won't take long, right Naruto?"

Naruto nodded, "Yeah, I only need Choji to help me for a little while. That's all I swear!"

Asuma scratched his head, "Well I suppose it wouldn't hurt to postpone our training a little. Shikamaru, Ino, do either of you mind?"

"Sure, why not? We can play some shogi until then."

"Well that might be fine for you and Asuma-sensei, Shikamaru. But what am I supposed to do? Just sit around and watch while we wait for Choji to come back?"

Choji smirked at Ino, "Maybe you can go and spend some quality time with your new girlfriend."

An angry blush came to Ino's face as she glared at Choji, "She isn't my girlfriend! If anything she's a stalker!"

Naruto blinked in confusion, "Wait, Ino likes girls?"

Choji nodded, "Yeah, she and Tenten have been getting pretty close lately."

Naruto turned to face the other blonde, "You and Tenten huh? I never would've guessed."

"For the last time! She. Isn't. My. Girlfriend! I like boys!!!"

Shikamaru sighed, "Denial can be an ugly thing."

"What's that supposed to mean Shikamaru!?"

"Nothing, just that you get way too flustered whenever this subject comes up. Some people might think that you aren't denying it because it isn't true, but because you're too ashamed to accept the fact yourself."

Ino stared at the lazy chunin for a good half minute in shock and then began to bite his head off. While Ino went into a one sided argument with Shikamaru, Choji and Naruto took the opportunity to take off. Naruto gave Choji a quick overview of what he wanted to do, omitting the fact that he wasn't allowed to have any ramen. When he was asked why he wanted to _make_ ramen instead of just buying it, Naruto merely said that he wanted to know how to make his own for the sake of it. Choji asked no further questions and the two boys set to work.

A short while later Choji arrived back in Naruto's apartment. He had bought all the necessary ingredients using money Naruto gave him while Naruto himself ran home to clean his kitchen. It was a good excuse for him to avoid going back into the store and raising suspicion, but the fact was he really did need to clean his kitchen if he planned on making ramen. And so with Choji's help they began to prepare the dish.

Making the noodles was a long and laborious process that took a couple tries, but they managed to do it right. The broth was much simpler and the boys even got creative thinking up various things they could do to give it a flavor that would be both unique and delicious.

At last the ramen was finished, its savory aroma wafting up from the cooking pot and tempting them. Naruto was about to dive in when Choji insisted he give it a taste test. The chubby boy took a bowl and tried the ramen. The second it met his tongue he was met with a euphoria of flavor. In a split second the bowl was empty and Choji went on to eat the rest of the ramen right out of the cooking pot. Naruto gawked as Choji devoured every last bit of the ramen. Once done Choji set the pot back down and let out a satisfied belch.

"Man that was good! Hey Naruto, if becoming Hokage doesn't work out for you then you should open your own ramen stand. This stuff practically rivals Ichiraku's!"

Naruto snapped from his daze, "But, what about me? I wanted to try some too!"

"Relax, you can always make more. You just need to get some more ingredients."

Choji thanked Naruto for the ramen and went off to join his team for training. Naruto's shoulder slumped, sure he had the recipe he didn't have enough money left to go and buy more ingredients. Now Naruto was left with only one option, if he wanted ramen back he'd have to take up his case with a higher power. He was going to need to see Tsunade. Naruto ran out the door, nearly forgetting to shut it behind him, his destination: the Hokage's office.

----------

Meanwhile, Tsunade was sitting at her desk glaring at Twisted. The man had vanished after Tsunade had gone through with her end of the bargain and had just materialized again after being absent for a few hours. He let out a laugh, clearly amused with something.

"That was even better than I thought it would be! You should have seen how hard he tried to get some ramen! I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if he burst into your office in tears. He's actually on his way right now, so I'll be taking my leave now. Thank you again for your cooperation, you made the right decision."

"Wait! We had a deal Twisted."

"Oh yes, I almost forgot. My apologies. Here…" He reached down into the shadow coming from Tsunade's desk and pulled out a large box. He placed it on the desk and slid it towards Tsunade. She opened it and found in it countless pictures, many of Naruto and Hinata, but also including Neji, Tenten, Ino, Shino, Kiba, Sakura, Lee, and even Tsunade herself. Picking up one of her own pictures Tsunade blushed and cast another glared at Twisted.

"Why do you have this!?"

Twisted chuckled, "Well I knew that I'd need some leeway if I decided to enlist you to help me. Besides, despite your age you do have a nice body, that picture is enough proof of that."

He left, sinking back into the shadows before Tsunade could even respond to his blunt comment. Tsunade called in Shizune and asked her to dispose of the box containing all the blackmail. The woman did as told, heading out of the office to find a spot to get rid of it all. On her way she bumped into Sakura, a single picture falling out of the box. Both girls apologized to each other, Sakura asking what Shizune was carrying. Shizune didn't know whether or not to tell the girl the truth so she just gave her a vague answer.

"Oh, this is just garbage. Tsunade-sama is cleaning out her desk and asked me to throw this all out."

She continued along her way, Sakura about to do the same when she noticed the fallen photo. Quickly figuring that it must've been something in that box Shizune was carrying she picked it up and looked at it. She immediately blushed when she saw it was a picture of her sleeping. While Sakura tried to understand just how and why Tsunade had this, Naruto had arrived and burst into Tsunade's office.

TBC.

Well, the final chapter is coming up. So get ready, I might just have it up soon now that I've finally gotten to it.


	10. Chapter 10

The final chapter at last. The bad news is that now this story shall come to an end. The good news, now I can get to work on the final part of this story line! Also, you can finally see why I gave this story it's title.

Chapter 10)

Tsunade would have been startled by Naruto bursting into her office if she hadn't been expecting it. She could hear the boy calling out her name as he ran toward the door. Now she watched as Naruto ran up to her desk, slamming his palms down on it out of frustration.

"Grandma, why won't you let me have ramen anymore!? And don't give me that nutrition crap! I eat plenty of stuff besides ramen and you know it! Why?!"

Tsunade sighed, trying to ignore the ringing in her ears from Naruto's shouting. "Naruto, to be honest I didn't really want to do it. I do want you to have a more nutritious diet, but I wouldn't go as far as prohibiting you from your favorite food. I suppose it's time to tell you what's been going on."

Naruto blinked, confused. "Huh? What do you mean?"

"Have you noticed that you've been having some off days lately?" Naruto thought for a second and nodded, "Well, the truth is that you've been set up by the same man who used you to harass Hinata."

Naruto's eyes widened, a wave of anger surged through his very being. He was about to voice his outrage when Tsunade held up her hand, signaling for him to remain silent.

"Before you go off and do anything rash, I'm telling you that I have the situation under control and there's no need for you to be involved even though you have every right to be. Just let me handle it and I assure you that we will work everything out. What I want you to do is go to Hinata and explain everything to her and apologize, for real this time."

"Wait, Hinata's back already?"

"Her father and her got back from their trip early. Go to her and if anyone gives you trouble over it tell them you've been ordered to do so by me."

Naruto looked hesitant, his gaze falling to the ground. "But, I can't. I wanted to before, back when I was still doing all that stuff to hurt Hinata's feelings. But that guy, he was blackmailing me and I'm afraid that if I do tell her everything that he might do something."

"I've already taken care of that Naruto. And even if he does try something he won't get away with it. He's already done far more than enough. Now go, think of this as a mission."

Naruto left without another word, now dead set on setting things right with Hinata. A few moments after he'd gone, Tsunade put her plan into action. Asuma, Kurenai, Gai and Kakashi all entered her office.

"Naruto is on his way to see Hinata, if I'm correct than we can expect Twisted to be somewhere in the vicinity as well. I don't think I need to tell you that this may be our only chance to catch him so failure is not an option. Twisted may not be the worst threat that this village has ever seen but he is still a threat and shouldn't be underestimated. Don't let your guard down for even a second and unless absolutely necessary don't hold back. Any questions?"

They had none, they understood their mission fully. Tsunade dismissed them and got up to get ready herself. She didn't' think it would be necessary, but she wanted to be ready to face the man herself if need be.

----------

Naruto reached the Hyuga estate, nearly out of breath. He had run as fast as his legs would carry him and then some. As he neared the front gates he saw Neji. The boy was standing next to the gates, almost as though he had been waiting for Naruto. The blonde boy walked up to Neji, catching his breath.

"Neji, where's Hinata? Is she here yet?"

Neji nodded, "She and Hiashi-sama have been back since this morning and are resting after their journey."

"Can I see her? I need to tell her. That I'm sorry for everything."

"I know, but I think it would be best if you spoke with her father first. He's still not too pleased with everything that transpired between you two and I doubt he'll just let you in to speak with her. Follow me."

Neji led Naruto inside, advising the other boy on how to approach Hiashi. When

They reached Hiashi's study, Neji going in first to inform his uncle about Naruto. A moment later Neji allowed the other boy inside. Hiashi dismissed Neji, wishing to speak with Naruto alone. Naruto began to feel uneasy, he was hoping to have the older boy with him for moral support. Nevertheless Naruto stood straight, convincing himself that he'd be fine as long as he remembered what Neji had told him.

An awkward silence filled the room and Naruto waited for Hiashi to speak. He would have started the conversation but wasn't sure how to go about it. It wasn't like he was on a friendly basis with Hinata's father and didn't want to do anything that might cause the man to like him even less. Hiashi's gaze stayed on Naruto throughout the course of the next couple minutes until he finally broke the silence himself.

"Well? Are you going to speak or just stand there? Neji told me you had something important to say and I do have other, more important matters to attend to."

Naruto tensed, becoming nervous, "Well…I wanted to see Hinata. I know that I was mean to her and I feel really bad about it. I thought about what I did and I just want to tell her that I'm sorry."

Silence filled the room for a brief minute before Hiashi replied, "And just how would this apology be any different from the times you told her you were _sorry_ before?"

"Because I mean it this time! I mean, I meant it all those other times too but…"

"But you found it far more tempting to upset her again, making any apology you'd given to her prior absolutely pointless."

Naruto let his gaze fell to the floor. Hiashi had a point, all those times he had said he was sorry and then he'd just go and… Hinata had every right not to trust him after that. The blonde boy cleared his head, now wasn't the time to be moping to himself. He had to see Hinata and set things right, starting by clearing things up with her father.

"Okay so I was wrong to do that, but this time I want to make up for everything I did. I want to let her know how sorry I really am."

"You're sorry alright. A sorry excuse for a friend, which is what you were to my daughter. To think she actually admired you."

Naruto's eyes widened, "Hinata…admired me?"

Hiashi nodded "She most likely still does. You inspired her to train harder, to become both a better person and shinobi, just because of who you are. She spoke very highly of you during our trip, when I asked her to tell me about what went on between the two of you. She told me everything you did, but refused to believe that you did it completely of your own will. It would seem she's rather taken with you."

Naruto absorbed the older man's words. He had no idea that Hinata had thought of him that way. And then there was the last thing Hiashi had said. 'She'd rather taken with you'? Was that supposed to mean that Hinata _liked_ him!? Naruto felt even worse now, but it also strengthened his resolve.

"If what you're saying is true, then I'm definitely gonna tell her how sorry I am for what I did! No matter what!"

A small smile tugged at the corner of Hiashi's lips. "I think I'm beginning to see what Hinata was telling me about you. I'd like to see more of it, perhaps then I'll understand why she's so fond of you."

"Huh? What do you mean by that?"

"I'm issuing a challenge to you."

" Are you saying you want to fight me? Cuz if you are then I'm not backing down!! And when I win you have to let me see Hinata!!"

"If you insist, this way."

Hiashi led Naruto out to the courtyard where Neji and Hinata usually trained. The two stood across from each other in the middle of the courtyard, ready for their match. No words were exchanged and neither of them made a move. It seemed as though Hiashi was waiting for Naruto to make the first attack, taking up a defensive stance. Knowing that he couldn't afford to hold back, Naruto summoned five shadow clones and had them attack. Hiashi stood his ground, taking out the clones with simple Taijutsu.

Naruto took the mere seconds he had while Hiashi dealt with the clones to fling shuriken at him. Hiashi saw the attack and with a single sweep of his arm, knocked all the shuriken to the ground, the metal of the weapons bent out of shape.

Backing up a bit, Naruto called out several more shadow clones, surrounding Hiashi. Hiashi quickly went into a rotation, taking care of all of the clones closest to him. When he slowed to a stop the remaining clones swarmed him. Hiashi dispatched them one at a time, not even really trying. Naruto smirked and made another clone. Rather than join the other clones in the battle he had the new one help focus chakra into his right hand. The charka swirled into a blue orb of whirling chakra. His best jutsu ready, Naruto and the clone leaped into the fray, seeking to take advantage of Hiashi being distracted by all the clones attacking him.

As he grabbed hold of a clone and defeated it, Hiashi quickly noticed Naruto, the real one, approaching with an attack ready. Hiashi changed his focus from the clones to the real Naruto, striking him down with a gentle fist. Naruto vanished in a puff of smoke, it had been a shadow clone. While Hiashi was momentarily caught off guard, the clones grabbed him and held him still. The real Naruto, who had been hiding among the clones, charged at Hiashi, a ball of whirling chakra in his hand.

"Rasengan!!!"

Hiashi went into another rotation at the last possible second. All the remaining clones were destroyed and the real Naruto was sent flying across the courtyard and into a wall. Naruto fell to the ground and got back to his feet. Hiashi sped towards the boy, getting behind him and striking him in the back with a gentle fist. Naruto stumbled forward, barely able to keep standing. The force behind that strike had been far greater than the ones Naruto had gotten from Neji in the past. Naruto turned to face Hiashi again, only to find that the man was already upon him. With quick, precise strikes, Hiashi sealed off all of Naruto's chakra points and shut down his chakra network. Hiashi ended his attack with another gentle fist to Naruto's abdomen, knocking the wind out of him and sending him flying across the courtyard once more.

Naruto tried to get back up, but couldn't feel his legs. He wasn't able to move his arms either. This was just like when he fought Neji in the chunin exams, only worse. Knowing he had only one option left, Naruto called on the power sealed inside him. He called on the chakra of the Kyubi.

The familiar feel of the powerful charka surged through his being. The strength returned to his limbs and he stood back up. He could feel the other changes too. The way his fingernails became more claw-like and how his canines grew slightly to give him a more feral look. His ocean blue eyes became a vicious red as he glared at Hiashi Hyuga.

Hiashi noticed the changes as well and he was in no way oblivious to the reason behind it. Naruto was calling on the power of the demon inside him. It looked like Hiashi just might need to take the boy seriously after all. He got into his stance, waiting for Naruto to attack him.

Naruto couldn't help but smirk. He had just gained an edge in battle. Now he'd beat Hiashi for sure and then he could go and see Hinata. Naruto was about to attack Hiashi, but hesitated. Hiashi was glaring at him in a way that Naruto was more that used to. It was the way the villagers had always looked at him as he grew up. The way they looked at him because of the Kyubi that was sealed inside of him. Hiashi was glaring at him because he knew that Naruto was using the demonic chakra of the Kyubi, and he didn't trust it.

Trust, that was the whole reason Naruto had come here in the first place. To show Hinata that she could trust him again and apologize to her. But first he wanted to gain Hiashi's trust as well. And would he really be able to accomplish that by using the power of the Kyubi to fight him? No, he wouldn't. Naruto calmed himself, his features returning to normal as the Kyubi's chakra receded back from where it came.

"I give up, I don't want to fight you anymore."

Hiashi stared at the boy for a moment, and then relaxed. He wasn't sure, but he could've sworn he just saw Naruto suppress the Kyubi's power by sheer will alone. The Hyuga leader now felt he had an understanding of what his daughter saw in the blonde boy.

"That's it? You're done?"

Naruto nodded, "I came here to apologize to Hinata, not to get into a fight with you. I almost forgot about it and let myself get caught up in all of this. And I know that it won't be the same, but…I would really like it if you could just tell Hinata how sorry I am for me. I'll show myself out now."

Naruto ran off, completely oblivious to the fact that Hinata herself had just witnessed everything that had occurred. Her bedroom overlooked the courtyard and she had a very good view of the match between her father and crush. Seeing Naruto take off, Hinata rushed out of her room, dead set on catching the boy before he got too far.

Naruto made his way to the front gates, having slowed to a walk. It seemed that he would have to wait just a little longer to see Hinata again, so that he could apologize in person. But for now, he only hoped that her father would tell her.

"N-Naruto-kun wait!"

He stopped at the sound of her voice, turning to see her. Hinata was running up to him, her father and Neji at the front doors. She reached him, stopping just a short distance from where he stood. Naruto wanted to say something, but words failed him. He didn't know where to start; luckily for him Hinata did.

"Why? Why are you leaving Naruto-kun? Neji told me that you came here just to see me and you're just going to leave like that?"

"I don't want to leave Hinata, but I don't really have much of a choice. Your father would only let me see you if I beat him, and…I lost."

Hiashi, hearing this, walked over to them "Odd, I don't remember that being the purpose of our challenge. It was merely so I could see what it is about you my daughter admires so much."

Naruto blinked, "Wha? Really? So I don't have to leave?"

"You're free to leave, but I believe you wished to speak with Hinata first. Something along the lines of an apology?"

"Oh right!" Naruto turned to Hinata, looking her in the eyes. "Hinata, I'm really sorry. For everything. I never meant to hurt your feelings of make you cry. I didn't even like most of the stuff I did to you anyway and I swear I _never_ even looked at your diary. I know I can't expect you to forgive me just like that, but I hope that we can at least be friends again."

Hinata smiled, a small blush on her face. "I…I forgive you Naruto-kun."

His eyes widened, incredulous. "You do? Even after all those other times I said I was sorry and then upset you again?"

"Of course, I just wish I knew why you did those things Naruto-kun."

"I can explain. This guy came into my apartment a while back and offered to pay me if I did some tasks for him. I didn't know what I was getting into at first and I wasn't thinking about how you'd feel about it. But when I finally decided to tell him I wasn't doing it anymore he began to blackmail me. He had these pictures of you and was gonna spread them all over the village."

"B-but you did that!"

Naruto shook his head, "The ones he had were way more embarassing and I didn't want anyone to see them. So I kept going along with his stupid plan and when he took your diary I just didn't want to be part of it anymore. I fought him and lost. Then he made me give you your diary back and tell you I read it. I'm sorry Hinata, I really am."

Hinata was silent, trying to absorb everything she had just heard. She didn't know what to say. Her father on the other hand did.

"Ridiculous. I can't believe you would make up such an excuse for your behaviors like that. Honestly who in the world would want to hire you to do what you did to Hinata."

"It's true! He called himself Twisted and he really did have me do all of that! I just never figured out why."

Hiashi still didn't believe him. He was willing to give the boy another chance but just wouldn't accept his story. Hinata however found it much more credible than her father did.

"Naruto-kun, was this Twisted person that same man in the cloak I saw you with in the woods?"

"Yeah that was him. See? Hinata saw him too!"

"And so have we!"

Naruto, Hinata and Hiashi all turned their attention to the front gates where Sakura, Ino, Lee, Tenten, Kiba and Shino had all gathered. Naruto looked at them all, both confused as to why they were here and what he had just heard.

"What?! Why are you guys here!?"

Neji smirked and went over to join the group, "Naruto, all of us have seen Twisted and spoken with him. Not only that but he manipulated us just the way he manipulated you."

Naruto stared at them, trying to make sense out of what Neji just said. After a good couple minutes it finally clicked. "You guys were the ones who have been making my life suck so much this past week?!?"

Neji nodded, "We apologize Naruto, it took a little time for us all to figure it out. But we can all agree that Twisted is definitely the one who's repsonisble for everything that happened."

They all began explaining what had happened from the moment Neji had first suspected Twisted being behind Naruto's behavior towards Hinata. Each of them told about their encounters with the mysterious figure, Hiashi, Hinata and Naruto all listening.

Meanwhile, Twisted himself was skulking about in the top branches of some trees nearby. He had been watching everything that had occurred since Naruto had left Tsunade's office and was a bit displeased with the results.

"Well that was fun while it lasted, I never guessed he'd actually challenge Hiashi and then throw in the towel. Such a shame, I hoped that he'd keep going on with the fight. Oh, well. I wonder who I should target next, maybe I could exploit the tension between Ino and Tenten."

He felt a kunai being raised towards his neck, "I think you've done enough already."

Twisted suddenly found himself surrounded by four skilled jonin. Kakashi, Asuma, Gai and Kurenai had found him while he was spying and quickly approached him. Kakashi had the kunai against Twisted's throat and Gai had taken a firm grip on the man's arm in case he tried to sneak away. Twisted chuckled and shook his head.

"So now what? You going to try and imprison me?"

Kurenai glared at him with pure rage, "How about going down there and admiting to what you've done so you can clear Naruto's name!"

"My, my such malice. It doesn't suit you Kurenai, not at all."

Kurenai made an attempt to strike the man, but was restrained by Asuma. The four jonin escorted their prisoner down to the ground and over to where everyone else was. Heads turned and eyes widened as they all saw Twisted being brought out in the open. Naruto out of everyone was the first to react, pointing at the cloaked figure and glaring.

"That's him! He's the one who started all this! You guys actually caught him?!"

Twisted scoffed, "That's a rather generous way of putting it. I let my guard down and they surprised me is all. It doesn't matter really. I could escape at any time if I wanted."

They ignored his statement, Kakashi nudging him. "Say it."

"Keep your mask on! I'm getting to it!" Twisted turned to adress the group. "I'm the one who's the mastermind of all of this. All the credit belongs to me. Naruto was just a pawn I cast away. Then just for the fun of it I got more pawns to kick the brat while he was down."

Naruto desperately wanted to beat the guy senseless but retrained himself. He could tell that the others didn't like what went on any more than he did, even Hinata was staring at the prisoner coldly. So instead of attacking him, Naruto looked for the answers he'd wanted for so long.

"Why!? Why did you want any of it done at all!?"

"I was bored. I first saw that Hinata girl and you one day while you were out on a mission, something about a bug I think. Anyway I couldn't help but notice the way she acted around you and desperately wanted to exploit it for my own entertainment."

"What, you mean me and Hinata's friendship!?"

"No you idiot! She _likes_ you and you're just to oblivious to see it! I found that rather interesting and thought 'what would happen if he treated her badly? Would she still like him the same?' And then after wards I decided to pull the same stunt on you, making Hinata's friends do my dirtywork. I wanted to see if you'd compare how you felt to how she felt as well as whether or not it would make you try to make up with her. I even went through the trouble of having things start out small and then escalate into more drastic measures. And I must admit, this whole thing has been very entertaining from start to finish."

There was a minute of unesy silence. Everyone having a hard time believing what they had just heard. He was bored, that was his excuse for tormenting Hinata and Naruto? It was safe to say that this only furthered their dislike of the man.

Gai shook his head, "You are one sick and twisted little man."

"Why thank you, now if you'll excuse me I'll be going now."

Twisted quickly pulled free of the jonin and threw down a smoke bomb to give himself cover.

"You fools won't be catching me again!" He began to laugh, satisfied he had tricked them yet again. However he spent so much time laughing at them that he forgot to make his escape. The smoke dissapated, Twisted still stadning in the same spot and everyone was starting at him like he was an idiot. His laughter died down and he cleared his throat nervously. "Oh yeah, I was supposed to run."

Before any of them could make a move, Twisted leapt back, about to sink into some shadows. Naruto was a step ahead and threw some flash bombs he had in his ninja tools pouch. The boy knew that Twisted needed the shadows so he could stop the man by getting rid of them. The flash bombs went off, creating light on all sides of the man, eliminating any shadows on the ground near him. Everyone shieled their eyes just in time, except Twisted who, even though his face was covered in a specter hood, was blinded by all the flash bombs. He stumbled around, not able to see clearly. He used his hands to try and find his way and came in contact with something soft.

There was a massive murdering intent around him all of the sudden. As his vision cleared he could figure out why. He had accidentaly gotten hold of Hinata's chest, the poor girl blushing bright red and looking upset. Twisted quickly discovered that the killing intent he sensed was mostly coming from Naruto. The kyubi's chakra was surging through him and taking form around his body.

'_Oh great like I didn't give the kid enough reasons to hurt me.'_

Forgetting entirely about his ability to merge with the shadows, Twisted resorted to the much more pirmal urge of running for his life.

----------

Kotetsu and Izumo stood at their post at the village gates. It had been a long and boring day. The boredom was quickly shattered as a man in a cloak ran past them, clearly in a state of panic. As he ran past they could hear him scream.

"He's gonna eat me!!"

Not even a minute after that, Naruto in his one-tail form with a predatory look in his eyes. The two ninja looked to one another.

"Did that seem odd to you?"

"Nope."

The two went back to what they had been doing before and ignored the sounds of screaming as Naruto caught his prey.

End.

Well its finally done. At least for now. I got plans for a sequel to this one that I hope to start soon. Keep your eyes open for it and until then thanks again for reading!


End file.
